Dark of the Night
by Laulima1357
Summary: Revenge will be sweet.... when the curse is complete... in the dark of the night, he'll be gone
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **…I really don't know what to say.

Words cannot describe what this story has come to mean to me. I've had so much fun throughout this entire experience. Kila has been an absolute joy and I'm so grateful for getting the chance to work with her. She's a great writer and a great friend and it's been just awesome to see what she's done with this.

Watching the way this story has evolved has really been cool. It's hard to believe a two-page oneshot grew into this. (This is the longest fanfiction I've _ever _contributed to – that alone is pretty exciting for me.) I can't believe we're ready to unveil it; I'm so excited to hear what everyone thinks! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do.

Happy reading – and Happy Halloween!

~BG

**AN THE SEQUEL: **Oh, holy cow.

First off, I find it hard to believe BG could even put up with me this long, much less find all those wonderful things to say. She was a wonderful person to write with, she's a fantastic talent and such a warm, easygoing person. I'm proud to call her my friend and I just want to let you all know that most of the really good writing, most of the actual idea work and y'know, _prose_ were hers. I just helped it along.

That said, this fic has been our cherished personal project for I don't know how long, probably over a year, and I can't wrap my mind around the fact that after all this time it's finally being unveiled to the public. I sincerely hope the public enjoys it as much as we have.

Best wishes (that no one will egg your house this year),

~Kila

* * *

**Dark of the Night**

**Part 1: Misery**

**Chapter 1**

_'You say you gotta be cruel to be kind, in the right measure  
__Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign  
__Cruel to be kind, it means that I love you  
__Baby  
__Ya gotta be cruel  
__Ya gotta be cruel to be kind.'  
_~Nick Lowe, _'Cruel to be Kind'_

Buzz drummed his fingers on the control panel, scowling. Behind him, XR and Mira were bantering, a typical little disagreement over whether or not XR was a sexist pig unfit to walk the earth.

Buzz wasn't really paying attention so he didn't know why, but this argument seemed to be going on longer than usual. Eventually he realized they both looked really angry and were neglecting their control panels to yell at each other.

"XR! Mira!" he barked.

They both turned and snapped _"What?"_

"Get it together, guys, this is serious business! Now get back to your panels!"

XR glared at him. "My panel? How can I just go back to my panel when she- _she _insulted my very being!!"

Buzz raised an eyebrow and looked over at Mira. She was scowling and shaking her head. "When are you gonna get _over _that? Ugh! You're such a baby!"

Buzz frowned. "What exactly is he talking about?"

Mira opened her mouth to speak and XR talked over her. "What am I talking about? What am I TALKING about? She treats my welfare as some kind of joke and- I'm sick of the spoiled-princess bit!"

Mira's eyes widened and she whipped around in her chair. "Excuse me?! I'm _spoiled? _I'M spoiled?!"

XR folded his arms over his chest, scowling. "Spoiled, immature, selfish- the list goes on."

Mira's lips pressed into a thin line and she pointed emphatically into thin air. "You are living in a glass house, my friend."

Buzz frowned. "But what did she do?"

"What did she DO?" XR cried. "She- she-"

"I dared to point out that _maybe _his fear of NOS-4-A2 is a _little _unfounded because he DIED SIX MONTHS AGO," Mira said, folding her arms over her chest and slumping in her seat.

XR chuckled spitefully. "Dared to point- heh, okay, that's not what- she came up behind me and yelled 'boo, it's NOS-4-A2'." His hands clenched into fists. "THAT'S NOT POINTING SOMETHING OUT! THAT'S PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE!"

She slammed her hand on the dashboard. "I said I was sorry! Ugh! Get OVER yourself!"

"YOU get over yourself!"

Buzz had heard enough. "Okay, rangers, that's enough. XR, let it go. Mira, stop picking on him."

"I wasn't _picking _on him," she insisted. "It was just a joke!"

"Well, in that case he wouldn't be so upset," Buzz said, adjusting the ship's controls.

"Exactly! He _shouldn't _be upset!" Mira said, throwing her hands in the air. "He's just so sensitive about-"

"All right, fine. XR, stop being so sensitive. Now-"

"Hey!" XR cried, throwing his own hands into the air in an unconscious mirroring of Mira's gesture. "Joke?! I can _take _a joke! This was a lot more than a joke, Buzz! This-"

"I don't care what it was!" Buzz snapped. Frowning, he turned his attention to the ship's controls. His tone was sharp. "All right. I'm assigning you two to a traffic jam on Tradeworld. You're gonna work together, and you're gonna work this out. Okay?"

Stunned silence.

"All right!" Buzz mentally patted himself on the back for finding a good excuse to get that assignment out of the way. He'd been wondering who to dump that awful traffic jam onto. And Mira and XR could fix their issues... two birds with one stone. "Now, Booster, you and I are going to Krellmar 6, there's a bit of a spider-rat problem there..."

---

"Okay, guys, move along," Mira said in a bored tone, her voice amplified by the megaphone she was holding.

"Ugh, I can't _believe_ this!" XR grumbled beside her.

They were standing on the curb, surrounded by smog and mist and the smells and sounds of more than twenty cars with angry Tradeworld citizens inside. The air was dim and dank and the nastiness did nothing but fuel her aggravation.

She sighed exasperatedly, shooting him a warning glance. "Just suck it up and let's get this over with, okay?"

He raised his eyebrows. "'Suck it up?' I'm sorry, was that another vampire reference intended to _not _scare me?"

Mira groaned and set down the megaphone for a moment, rolling her eyes. "Sweet mother of Venus! Will you let it _go?!"_

XR started drumming one foot, looking away from her and pressing his lips together. "Fine."

Mira narrowed her eyes at him, then shook her head, scowling. "No, it's not fine! You're still throwing a hissy fit!"

"I was never throwing a hissy fit, and-"

"You are _so _throwing a hissy fit, you little-"

The squeal of brakes and loud, sustained blast of a car horn cut her off. She jumped, hastily picking up the megaphone. "Alright, guys, break it up, just keep moving…"

"Sweet mother of Venus, this assignment is a drag," XR muttered, flicking a loose chip of paint off his thumb.

She lowered the megaphone, glaring over at him. "You brought this on yourself, XR."

He glared back at her. "Oh, did I? Who came up behind who and taunted them with their worst fear, hmm?"

"It was _just _a _joke, _will you get over it already? If you had just let it go, we wouldn't be out here right now."

"No, if _you_ hadn't made the _stupid_ joke in the _first place_ we wouldn't be out here right now!!"

"Ohhh, you little piece of- you know what, sometimes I wish you weren't even ON the team! It's not like you're good for anything!"

These were fighting words.

XR stared at her with huge, shocked eyes. Mira kept going, unable to stop herself. "Booster and Buzz both pull their weight, but all_ you_ ever do is sit around and think of new ways to get attention! This isn't daycare, XR! This is the_ space rangers!__"_

He sputtered for a minute, then scowled. Later Mira would remember exactly how he looked... especially the way his eyes flashed red briefly just as he started to turn away, almost like an omen.

"Fine then! You don't want me around, I'll do this mission on my own!"

And he sped off around the corner. Mira gasped, then grit her teeth and began to march after him.

"Oho, no you don't! I'm not going to just sit around and watch you throw temper tantrums, XR! Now come back here and-"

She was cut off by a sudden scream. It happened incredibly fast- when she turned the corner, he was gone.

Just gone.

She stood there for a minute, shocked into stillness, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

There was nowhere he could have gone, no open manhole he could have fallen into- the alley was a dead end.

"XR?" she called, then whipped around and surveyed the street behind her. Maybe she'd mistaken the direction he'd gone in-

But no. There was nothing there.

Mira grit her teeth determinedly. He_ had_ to be_ somewhere_.

She strode off into the dark, calling.

---

It was half an hour later when Mira finally realized- XR wa_s gone_. She called Buzz and Booster together and they combed the streets of Tradeworld for hours.

---

XR groaned. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by darkness. Pitch-black nothing.

That didn't seem right, usually he himself generated enough light to see by. He frowned. Something was fishy in Denmark, or whatever that phrase was. And he should know, after all, he _was _a space ranger.

He tried sitting up. The room spun. He moaned and held a hand to his helmet. He felt groggy and out of it, like his battery had just been drained. But that shouldn't be possible, he hadn't even really done anything but yell at Mira on their last mission, and his battery could normally last for weeks.

What happened?

Not remembering how he got here in and of itself wouldn't have been cause for alarm, he was used to, well, passing out on missions but if he wasn't in the science bay afterwards, well, that was ominous. Where was he, then, Zurg's lair? Or-

A sharp twinge at the base of his helmet caused him to jump. Wincing, he reached up to the area of the pang. He fingered his helmet, feeling over his smooth metal torso-

He froze. Not smooth. Broken. There was a hole here... a little hole…

No. Two holes.

Two little holes.

He frowned. Well, that was strange. Whatever could have...

Suddenly little fragments of memory began to swim up from his subconscious like coins glinting underwater. He squinted into the darkness. The memories were only hazy but they were disturbing. Something had happened to him long ago... something terrible... he remembered the cold feel of claws, the swish of fabric around his ankles... standing in Star Command's science bay with a hazy, delirious feeling... being out all alone on a dark, cold night on a distant planet, then watching... fireworks? sparklers? bigger, maybe an explosion- watching it with a feeling of twisted glee. All of it made him feel cold and prickly all over, even though not all of the memories seemed negative in and of themselves.

Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

"Hello, little one. So nice to see you up."

He gasped sharply. Wait. No. No. He knew that voice. That teasing voice. No.

Eyes wide, he slowly turned. Glaring out of the dark were two red eyes, one a sinister slit, the other wide, round, staring. ALWAYS staring.

He yelped and scrambled backwards, eyes bulging. "AAH! No! No it can't be you're dead YOU'RE DEAD-"

"Come to me…"

The voice was teasing him, mocking him. Making fun of him and his fear. XR tried to scramble to his feet but couldn't. He couldn't get up. He tried sending out a distress signal. That didn't work either. He wasn't working, oh mother of Venus-

The red eyes came closer, bearing down on him.

"No, no no no…" Through the panicked haze over his senses XR wondered if he was truly making the noise, or just imagining he was. That would be just his luck.

Sharp metallic claws seized his arm. A perverse laugh echoed through the air. Red eyes lowered to his level.

He tried to scream, but nothing would come out. Then there was a sharp tug in his chest and his world abruptly shut off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_'Soon she will feel that her nightmares are real... in the dark of the night, she'll be through! '  
_~20th Century Fox, _Anastasia_

XR woke up with a scream, probably the same one that wouldn't come out earlier. He was greeted by an irritable "shut up, you idiot!" out of the darkness and fell back against the cold concrete, gulping and whimpering. That _wasn't_ NOS-4-A2's voice. No. Not possible. Not-

"Who's there?" he cried, spurred by some part of him that was either brave or really, _really _stupid.

"The Ab-Abber 2000," a voice drawled. "Who d'you _think? _Now stop blabbering."

XR stopped, cringing against the floor with big, buggy eyes. No. No. This couldn't be happening. Not again. Not to him.

But it had to be him, didn't it? It was _always_ him. Sometimes he felt like his only function in life was to be a magnet for every attack that came Star Command's way. He was the eXpendable ranger, wasn't he?

XR scowled a little at the thought, then coughed and whimpered again, trembling. He felt weak and helpless, but what else was new.

He'd thought the worst was over, hoped and prayed that he wouldn't be targeted by a supervillain again, not after the mind control, the stolen AFD, the dismemberment, the sheer feeling of violation that came from being used as a toy, parts facility, even SNACK for robots twice his size.

But of course, he had. Of course. That was his kind of luck. NOS-4-A2 apparently wanted to eat him again. He had to wonder why he hadn't just been fully drained already, and where he _was, _but oh well, why bother. NOS would probably finish him off and leave him for dead eventually.

XR curled into the fetal position, sniffling. NOS was supposed to be _dead..._

---

"Oh, MAN!" Mira growled, slumping into the seat next to Buzz and grabbing her head. Buzz raised one eyebrow at her.

"How could he be so _stupid?" _she wailed. "Going off by himself on Tradeworld- ugh, for all I know he could've been eaten by _wolves."_

"Now, Mira, I'm sure wolves don't eat robots," he said, patting her shoulder. "And XR will be fine. I'm sure he'll show up right here while we're radioing for a search party."

"Well, if he does I'm going to smack him so hard-" she growled, making a fist, then she slumped back on the bench with a moan. "Ugh, that little... _ugh!_"

Buzz gave her a wary look and scooted down on the bench.

---

XR didn't know how long he was asleep... he just knew he woke up and- surprise! it was still dark.

He sat up with some difficulty, stretched the kinks out of his cables, and wondered for a moment why he felt like scrap and why the room smelled like old motor oil before his databanks caught up with him and he remembered where he was. Then he screamed.

Across the room, there was a drowsy mumble and a metal clattering sound and he froze. There was no more noise and XR leaned back, turning the situation over in his mind. He thought for a minute, watching and listening carefully for signs of NOS being up and about. There were none. He was safely ensconced in his coffin.

Good. Because he was getting out. That's all there was to it. Yep. There was no way he was staying here any longer. He was escaping before NOS could finish him off. Again.

It was a thrilling concept, escape. It gave him a sense of being more energized than he actually was.

He pushed himself up to a standing position. His legs swayed, prompting a cry of dismay. He held out his arms, trying to steady himself. When he finally gained balance, he tried to move forward.

Nothing happened. His brow furrowed. He tried again. Still nothing. His treads weren't responding. Like they'd been disabled…

XR growled in frustration. Darn energy sucker.

Well, this was it. He couldn't get out. He blinked, eyes filling with tears. He'd just stay here and waste away and die in this filthy hole in the middle of- wait a minute. He blinked. An idea!

Awkwardly he lifted one foot. He set it down in front of him. Well, that wasn't so bad. Hey, lookit that. He could walk! Carefully he tried the same with the other foot. That worked too!

XR slowly made his way across the lair, grinning from ear to nonexistent ear. He was going to escape after all! Oh happy- ...day...

The grin faded. Walking was a chore. He hadn't realized how weak he was; he'd forgotten the toll those bites took out of a robot. He tried to take another step and tripped, landing with a clang that echoed across the near-empty room.

So much for stealth.

So much for walking.

He looked around, whimpering. It was too dark to see anything. Too bad his flashlight eyes weren't working. Too bad NOS-4-A2 was a sadistic jerk.

Too bad he was moving in his coffin. Too bad he was mumbling something about noise.

XR scolded himself. If this was going to work, he had to be quiet. …Well, as quiet as was mechanically possible.

He sighed and tried to push the anxiety from his mind. Okay, so walking was out of the question. No big deal. He could get out some other way, right? Right?? He could- he could crawl. Yeah!

Assuming he could even _find_ the way out… He could crawl around this room all he wanted to and if he didn't know what he was doing, he'd just end up going around in circles. Shoot. He'd need a plan here.

He carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position, frowning.

There had to be some kind of exit to this infernal place. After all, NOS wasn't Tangean, he couldn't just ghost through walls like Mira…

XR mentally slapped himself upon realizing he was tearing up at the thought of how long he'd been away from Mira. Stay _focused..._

Okay. So there had to be a way for NOS-4-A2 to come and go. His gaze swept across the room, as if he was hoping a door would materialize out of the darkness.

He sighed in frustration, rolling his eyes to the ceiling…

The ceiling…

Was that… light?

It was so faint, he could barely be sure he was seeing it. Would he even remember what light looked like, after being in this crushing darkness for so long? _Wow, now THAT'S a creepy concept._

He lay trembling for a minute, his eyes wide like a deer in headlights at the thought of never recognizing light again before he gave himself another good, hard mental slap. _Stupid'bot!_

He shook his head and stared back up at the light… It had to be there, it _had_ to be… a window, _of course…_ It just made sense. NOS-4-A2 could _fly,_ of course he would use a window. And he wouldn't be worried about XR using it if he'd disabled his jetpack. He tried activating his jetpack, just to make sure. Nothing happened. Yup. NOS knew what he was doing.

But… XR bit his lip, thinking. There was no way the vampire could know _every _aspect his design…

This could work, this could work…

XR eased down onto his stomach and began dragging himself across the floor, slowly making his way to the window's side of the… room, dungeon… place. He'd only gone a few feet when he bumped into something with a sharp bang.

He slid back from it, wincing. DANG! Could he do _anything_ quietly?

He scowled. Stupid thing, in his way… something was always in his way…

He reached out to try and feel what it was. It was cold, hard and smooth… Just like he was. Huh… It had a really strange shape, he couldn't make out exactly what it was. He frowned. It was totally smooth, how was he supposed to figure out…

Now wait, here was something different. He ran his fingers over it. It was… a hole…

No, two holes…

Two little holes.

XR cried out, jumping back from the object, too panicked to notice that NOS-4-A2 was stirring again.

That thing… It was a robot… One of NOS-4-A2's victims. It had been drained completely, that was why XR hadn't noticed it before…

He flashed back to the last time he'd been in one of NOS's lairs and a horrible thought swept over him. This place was probably littered with the least fortunate of the vampire's victims.

He shuddered. That did it. He was getting out NOW.

He resumed his crawling, heading towards the light much quicker than before, no longer thinking about how much noise he might be making, ignoring the fact that his arms and chest were getting all dented. After what seemed an eternity, he reached his goal. The dull light from outside filtered down to him, lightening the room around him ever so slightly.

It was all he needed.

He positioned himself directly below the window, whirring from the effort of pulling his own dead weight across the room. Dang. How did he get to be so heavy... anyway.

He smirked up at the light. Yes, NOS-4-A2 had disabled his jetpack. But the energy vampire didn't know about his amazing extendable hands. Ha!

He squinted up at the window, frowning in concentration. This had to work, it _had_ to…

He lifted his arm determinedly, aiming his hand directly at the window. _Please let this work, please let this work…_

He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing… In another instant his hand shot off, trailing a long cord through the air as it sailed for the window.

_Yes… YES… come on…_

His hand hit the window and bounced off, falling through the air for an excruciatingly long time before it crashed to the floor with a terrible clang, loud enough to wake the dead.

Speak of the devil…

Now NOS-4-A2 was talking. He was awake.

The coffin hissed. The lid tilted upwards.

XR choked back a yelp, hugging the ground.

IT arose from the coffin, stiffly, just like something from a monster movie- which, of course, it WAS, and XR saw its horrible red eyes turn and look directly into his... dim green ones.

There was a short silence, short and dangerous, suffocating.

"What do you think you're doing?" the vampire whispered icily.

XR gulped and trembled. "I… I…"

"You weren't thinking of escaping, were you little one?"

The mocking tone was gone now, leaving only cold, nasty anger. Fear surged into his heart... what he called his heart... leaving XR to babble helplessly.

"No! No, master! Escape? Who, m-me?! Of- of course not! It's the f-furthest thing from my m-mind!" He realized with a horrified yelp that his hand was lying roughly five feet away from him. He retracted it as quickly as he could, laughing nervously. "I… well… I- I was just looking for a more comfortable… spot…" He patted the harsh concrete floor awkwardly, baring large, white, horsy teeth in a nervous grin.

The energy vampire grinned (not at all nervously, and XR shivered), rising out of the coffin and gliding towards him. "Well then, get cozy… this might take awhile…"

XR moaned as he felt claws grab his shoulders. For a few brief, horrible moments pain filled his being, and then everything faded away.

---

NOS-4-A2 withdrew his fangs as soon as XR lost consciousness. It was simply no fun if the prey couldn't feel it, if he couldn't hear the cries of pain. Plus he wanted to save some energy for later. He could have easily taken it all in the first bite if he'd wanted to, but he wanted to make this last. He planned to get as much as he could out of the pathetic little thing.

Speaking of...

He straightened up and stared down at the little robot, a trace of hurt still frozen on its face. He put a clawed hand to his chin, considering; the little thing had to be worth something other than just energy. It had come from Star Command, after all. It had to have something he could use.

NOS bent over his captive again, tearing open the service panel on its front. There had to be something useful in there…

He plunged his hand into his prey, rummaging around. For a moment all he encountered were random wires and tubes, which he tore out of the way. He fished deeper, poking around until his claws encountered something soft and squishy. Blinking, he seized the thing and pulled it out. It was a rubber duck. He scowled. _Whose idea was this, anyway? The Star Command personnel had to be mad, no doubt… of course, you can tell that by just looking at this fat ugly thing._

NOS tossed the useless little duck aside, ignoring the small squeak it made when it hit the ground.

He caught ahold of something and grinned. This could be useful. It felt somewhat like a photon gyrotrigger. But it was stuck. Frowning, he tugged and yanked on it until it finally came loose. He felt something snap as the object broke free. It'd been attached to something, then; he must've broken it. Oops. …Ah well. What was one more injury? Maybe now its legs would fall off, or something equally traumatizing…

He spent the next few minutes eagerly looting out XR's storage compartment. In the process he found some D-cells- score! a TV remote, with more batteries inside it- score! and a handheld game with- yet more batteries! Scooore!

There was little else of interest, however (though he did find some magazines with some very disgusting pictures of females inside them that he set aside, intending to burn later)- just worthless junk. Like chewing gum. What would a robot want with chewing gum?

He took it anyway, though. He took everything he found- just so XR couldn't have it.

Lovely.

Then he tossed the lifeless hunk of metal into the corner and went back to bed.

---

Some time later, XR began to stir, blinking sleepily. He heard the coffin door creak open a few feet away. Oh, just what every robot wanted to hear first thing in the morning.

He tried to go back to sleep, but he was too sore and uncomfortable. After a while he sat up, blinking, and grimaced, clutching at his service panel. Something inside him ground together loudly.

He didn't really want to say anything about it. No, he'd really really been hoping NOS-4-A2 would figure this out on his own because he didn't want to put him in a bad mood but...

XR was starting to get the feeling NOS was planning to keep him alive for a little while. He didn't know why, but... he was apparently going to be here a while, and...

He was hungry.

Like... really hungry.

NOS had been up and out of his coffin for a few minutes now, XR could hear him rustling around and doing whatever it was he did before he took off for the hunt- and now was as good a time to ask as any, he supposed.

He wrung his hands, trying to build up his courage… when that didn't work he forced himself to blurt out a shaky "Ahem."

He heard NOS stop dead in his tracks. The vampire spun around, watching him strangely. XR winced, bracing himself for the yelling, but instead what he heard was

"Eh?"

XR blinked. That was it? No 'silence, you fool' or anything? …Well… he must not have been expecting XR to speak up. XR swallowed, shivering, then forced himself to keep going-

"D-dark-" This next word was going to be hard to get out, but he wanted NOS to grant his request- "master?" His voice sorta cracked but NOS didn't seem to notice, or maybe just not care. He struggled to his feet and jerked into an awkward half-bow for effect.

"What?"

"Uhh... well, I don't- go out hunting the way you do, heh heh..." he chuckled nervously.

There was a pause.

NOS gave him a dark look. "You darn well _won't_."

"Um- uh, no, b-but-"

His nerves constricted his voice processor into emitting a slight squeak. He could FEEL himself getting glared at. Ay- yi- ee-

"I'm hungry!" he blurted frantically.

There was a silence. A long silence. A very long uncomfortable silence. During which XR started to wish he hadn't said anything at all, because this silence was unbearable and why wasn't NOS saying anything, somebody had to say something because he couldn't take this silence anymore and AUGH

"Really- I mean-" he stammered desperately. "I've been- you know- I don't... are you gonna feed me or-"

NOS-4-A2 sighed. XR flinched.

"What do YOU think?" he drawled. "I mean really. No."

XR's eyes widened. "But-"

"This is an evil revenge plot! Did you really think there were going to be COOKIES?" NOS demanded.

"N-no, but-" XR stammered, only to be cut off.

"Save your energy, you'll need it," NOS muttered, and with a flutter of wings he was gone, leaving XR in the dark.

Alone.

And still hungry.

XR let his feet slide out from under him, collapsing to the floor with a sharp clank. He pouted at his shaking hands.

_Not FAIR,_ he protested mentally.

Time passed and there was nothing, no sound, no movement, only a far-away dripping noise. He began to feel tired sitting up and collapsed onto his back, moaning at the ceiling.

His head hurt and he felt sort of queasy now. He closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them.

He could see that patch of light on the ceiling. The doorway out.

It was just as well, he thought bitterly. Just as well that NOS-4-A2 had caught him when he did last night. Even if he had managed to get out of the energy vampire's lair, then what? Huh? His jetpack wasn't working, his treads had been disabled, he was too weak to walk away, he couldn't send out a distress signal, and who on Tradeworld was going to help a robot? One who had NOS-4-A2 on his tail, to boot.

Besides, NOS's powers were still intact. _Better than ever, I bet,_ he added sourly, _thanks to all the energy he took from ME…_ Even if he had escaped, NOS-4-A2 could easily track him down. And just as easily bring him back to his lair. And then he would have been maaaad… oh man, he'd have been furious. He probably had even worse things up his sleeve than just biting, too, just you wait.

It was better this way. Really.

It just didn't make the pain any easier to deal with.

He groaned, then slowly started dragging himself away from the small patch of light and back to "his" spot. He didn't want to see that light if it wouldn't help him. He didn't want to think there was a chance he could get out if he really couldn't.

Why was NOS dragging things out like this?...

He sighed and curled up on his side.

---

They'd done an exhaustive search of Tradeworld. All four- all _three _of them. Nothing. Finally, they'd had to return to Star Command to report him missing.

Now, Mira sat in the break room, hunched over the table. Her eyes were shut tight, her hand pressed to her forehead.

Why… _Why_ had she said those terrible things to him? She'd been so STUPID! She never MEANT that! Why did she say something that horrible to him? He didn't deserve it! Okay, sure. XR was annoying. He was loud. But she didn't want him to be _gone!_ The team wasn't the same without him! He'd only been gone for two days and she already dreaded coming in to work.

And now there was no telling where he was. He could be wandering around Tradeworld lost and alone... he could be out in the rain, he could have lost his money to a street hustler again, he might be wandering around hungry and cold and- AUUUUGGHH

Mira placed her hands on the table, pushing herself to her feet with a determined look. They would find him. They _had_ to.

And when they did, she'd give him a big sloppy ki- okay no, she'd be happy to see him, but doing _that _would be a big mistake. She'd just maybe hug him a little. Sure, that's all she'd do.

At that moment Buzz walked into the room. She gave him a hopeful look, which soon withered as she saw his grave expression.

"Mira, bad news."

"What?" she asked, biting her lip.

Buzz sighed and shook his head.

"We've just gotten a report from an eyewitness on Tradeworld who saw... NOS-4-A2 the energy vampire carrying off a small, bucket-shaped robot towards the-"

_"What?!" _she yelped.

Buzz's eyes were downcast. "He was a good ranger."

"No!" Mira said, eyes wide. "I- he can't-" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh, XR..."

The irony was not lost on her. No, not even a little bit.

Buzz patted her on the shoulder. She lowered her hands, staring at him desperately.

"We have to find him," she said.

"We're already tracking NOS-4-A2's whereabouts, with luck we'll have XR back by tomorrow," Buzz said, too heartily.

Mira sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_The sword of time will pierce our skins  
It doesn't hurt when it begins  
But as it works its way on in  
The pain grows stronger...watch it grin_  
~Johnny Mandel, _'Suicide is Painless'_

NOS-4-A2 crawled irritably over to the window. Today had NOT been a good hunting day. Everyone had run away like rabbits when he tried to approach and now he was hungry and crabby, both things you don't want in a vampire.

As he put his head through, NOS was startled to hear… what sounded like his captive talking. Talking? Who was he talking TO?

NOS scrambled through the opening with his fangs bared, expecting to see a posse of space rangers with wrist lasers ready. But… no.

No, no one alive was there except for XR… then who…

NOS blinked. Unless his eyes deceived him, XR was sitting up and having a good chat with a pile of rubbish he'd gathered.

"Well, hey, baby, nice legs. Wanna get a room somewhere?" XR said in a voice about half an octave lower than his usual tone, moving some poor robot's dismembered hand towards another poor robot's dismembered foot.

Taking hold of the foot, he moved it up and down as though it was talking, saying in a falsetto- "No way, you jerk! You look like the back end of a truck!"

He switched back to the low voice and continued, in a rather nasty tone, "Well, pardon my energy intake! I was just asking you out of pity anyway!"

"You're ugly!"

"You're stupid!"

"I hate you!"

NOS had seen enough. "Hoi! You! What the CRATERS d'you think you're doing?!"

XR's head shot up, eyes widening like those of a deer in headlights. The bits of dead robot he'd been holding fell over onto the ground with a series of little clangs. Apparently, he'd been too absorbed in his… play to hear NOS come in.

NOS stared back down at him, for once at an absolute loss for words. Dozens of unnerved and unnerving thoughts ran through his head.

Stammering, XR searched his own mind for some sort of… excuse for this. "Oh, uh… hey, NOS, I was just… cleanin' up the place, yeah."

He felt his face work into an ingratiating grin.

NOS merely stared back.

"…You do that."

NOS-4-A2 turned away, shaking his head, and began going about his business somewhere else in the room. What a bizarre specimen, the little one. Maybe he should just kill the thing.

XR stared after him into the dark, mouth open slightly, face questioning. Suddenly an idea came into his head. Maybe- maybe he could bond with his kidnapper. He'd heard of that happening. Get NOS to like him. Stop hurting him, maybe even set him free.

"So… how was hunting?"

Red eyes turned towards him out of the gloom and he shuddered involuntarily. "Poor. Which reminds me…"

He came closer. XR scooted back, eyes wide and alarmed. "Wait. Wait, no. No. No, please-"

Okay, it was a stupid question.

"Don't you get sick of doing the same thing every night?" he said suddenly.

"Just call me a creature of habit," the voice answered, bemused, mocking.... always mocking.

"You have some pretty sick habits," he spat more than said, hatred filling every word.

"Well, since you obviously know my routine…"

He shuddered convulsively, drawing away and protectively shielding his neck.

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you."

Cold claws wrapped around his hand, pulling it away with inexorable force.

"I really think you should, it'll be easier," he said lightly, as though it was really no trouble to him, didn't matter what XR did anymore. And his hands slipped around XR's waist. He shuddered, his engine revving in discomfort at the overly-personal touch. He tried once again to pry the hands away. No dice.

"Shut off," he snapped.

"Come now, that's no way to speak to your roommate."

"Bite me!"

"As you wish."

Another shudder passed through his body. "…No, no, I didn't mean… That's not what I…" No. No, please. He was surprised a bit by how much he suddenly _didn't want _to be bitten again. It hurt, but he was used to being hurt- but this was a _big _hurt and- and he'd never- and "No. No. Please."

"There's nothing to be afraid of, little one. Just relax. Really now, you'll just end up hurting yourself. Let me help you with that… Just let me get to you… Lovely…"

His terrified scream echoed through the room, loud enough so that several citizens of Tradeworld _had_ to have heard it.

If they did, they didn't react.

---

When he woke, he knew something wasn't right. Something didn't… feel right, inside him. Things were grinding together somewhere in his chest cavity and it _hurt, _a deep, persistent ache that spread out to his limbs and gave him the worst headache he'd ever had. He moaned, squeezing his eyes shut. It hurt, it just _hurt,_ it hurt him _everywhere… _He started whimpering from the pain. He couldn't help it.

"Oh, be quiet," NOS sighed from across the room.

XR bit his lip, trembling. He tried to be quiet, he really did… but he was shaking now and that was making an awful rattling sound… He curled onto his side, pulling his knees to his chest, trying to stop the shaking. Something ground inside him again, _loudly, _and this time whatever it was made him choke and break into a coughing fit.

"_Did you hear me?" _the vampire hissed. XR flinched; he was closer now. "I said _shut it."_

XR nodded – or tried to, anyway, it was hard to accomplish when he was shaking so badly. He wanted to stop, he really did, he would've given anything to stop, why couldn't he stop? The more he tried, the worse it got. Soon he was coughing terrible throaty coughs, wet, rattling coughs that echoed around the room. He still hadn't stopped when he heard NOS's voice again, _much _closer this time.

"I said _SILENCE!" _The vampire seized him by the helmet and shoulder, lifting him up and slamming him forcefully back onto the concrete. There was an awful crunching of metal on concrete a sharp SNAP as a long, thin crack split up the side of his helmet.

And still he couldn't stop coughing. His coughs were mingled with little sobs, couldn't NOS see that he couldn't help it, couldn't NOS tell he was pushing him too far?

"Do you want me to drain you again?" NOS-4-A2 barked.

Apparently not.

"Noooo!" XR whimpered, drawing his knees to his chest and attempting to shield his neck.

"Then _be quiet."_

Mercifully the claws withdrew and after a moment he heard NOS start to tinker with something on the other side of the room. He tried very hard not to imagine what NOS could possibly be doing. He bit his lip, hard, trying to stifle the coughs… but they came out anyway, in short, wheezy blasts. Whatever was shifting inside him was quickly working its way to excruciating; it was making him feel dizzy and sick and… oh no. No, no. Whatever was collapsing inside him was putting pressure on his oil tank. No, no… The coughing had turned into gagging and a weird sort of pressure was building up in his chest. No, no, this couldn't be happening, he had to stop it, had to…

His eyes widened. He couldn't stop it. Shakily he pushed himself to his hands and knees, tossing his helmet aside just as he felt something warm and wet come up in his mouth.

A stream of oil spattered onto the floor.

He coughed and gasped and sputtered. He was shaking harder now, his hands trembled against the coarse concrete… There was that pressure again… he heaved and another stream spilled forth. And another.

He kept heaving even after there was nothing to bring up. He coughed and shivered, whimpering; he felt weak and shaky and drained and empty. Spent. All used up. And there was a dull ringing in his head.

For a long time he just knelt there, generating a ragged breathing sound as he tried to steady himself. His engine was racing uncomfortably, emitting a feeble whine. His head was spinning and for a moment he completely forgot that he wasn't alone.

But just for a moment.

"You… you _filthy little worm!"_

His head turned slowly and there was NOS, staring down at him, enraged. He looked… blurry. Fuzzy around the edges. XR squinted. There must have been something wrong with his vision – had to have been, because he didn't notice NOS's raised hand, or see that hand swing toward him, until it was too late.

A searing pain erupted on the side of his face. He gasped sharply as stars exploded in his range of vision. Before he could register what was happening next clawed hands had seized him and lifted him up, up, up and away from stable, solid ground.

His vision cleared slightly and there they were, those horrible red eyes, alight with fury… XR hadn't thought that NOS could possibly hate him any more than he already did – but but the look on the vampire's face suggested anything was possible. NOS reared back, opening his mouth to expose those razor-sharp fangs… XR squirmed weakly, whimpering. _No. No, no, please, anything but that, please, no… _The mere thought of what those fangs were about to do to him made him feel queasy all over again and as NOS lunged for his neck he gagged sharply.

To his surprise, NOS actually pulled away. The vampire held him out at arm's length, frowning like he'd just smelled something nasty.

"Ugh, you're not going to throw up again, are you?" he groaned.

XR stared back at him. Was this… Had he actually found a surefire way to stop the vampire from biting? Quickly he started moaning; he let his mouth hang open listlessly and closed his eyes partway, making himself look as sick as possible. …It wasn't hard.

"Maybe…" he murmured as woozily as he could. It sounded terrible even to him.

NOS groaned and promptly dropped him. Sure, it hurt to hit the concrete, and… oh man, it felt like one of his arms had popped loose… but _anything _was preferable to a vampire bite. NOS hovered over him, surveying him with a look of pure disgust. He sniffed and turned away, drawing his cape tightly around him.

"You're practically organic," he scoffed.

XR kept up the moaning, gagging a few more times just for effect until he heard the creak of the coffin lid closing. He sighed heavily. He felt awful… For a horrible moment he thought he might _really_ be sick again… but no. Nope, too tired and… empty.

The side of his face was still burning… Wincing, he eased it down onto the floor. For once the ice-cold concrete actually felt good. He let it numb the sensors in his face until he could fall asleep.

--

Across the galaxy Booster was wide-awake in Mission Control, pacing nervously behind a line of LGMs. Every so often he stopped, leaned in towards one, and asked the same simple question.

"You sure you don't have any leads?"

The latest LGM would just look up and sadly shake its head. "No leads."

At which point Booster would sigh and resume his pacing.

Every second of his time on Star Command Booster spent in Mission Control, desperate for news of XR. They hadn't heard from him since he disappeared - hadn't gotten so much as a distress signal. It was unsettling how he'd suddenly just vanished. Mira'd been right _there, _and even she hadn't seen anything. Only that witness Buzz was talking about claimed to know what really happened. And if that was the case… if it was true, if the energy vampire had gotten to him…

Booster shuddered, wringing his hands. He couldn't remember ever being more worried. His best friend was in serious danger - maybe lonely, maybe hurt - and he couldn't do anything about it. He'd never felt so helpless. If only they knew where XR was, if only they had some kind of direction… But they didn't even know where to _begin_ looking. It was driving him crazy, not knowing.

And so he paced the floors of Mission Control. If they received anything from XR, _any_ hint to where he might be, Booster wanted to be the first one to know.

He was so caught up in his own anxiety that he didn't notice a door whoosh open behind him and Mira step through.

She approached him cautiously, biting her lip. "Booster?" She placed a hand on the highest part of his back she could reach.

He yelped in surprise and whirled around, wide-eyed. She jumped back, holding up her hands.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."

He shook his head, clutching at his chest. "It's okay, Mira. I was… just thinking about XR."

She nodded. "I know." When they weren't out looking for XR, Booster was in here. Pacing. On the one hand, she didn't think it was very healthy for him to spend every second of his free time in here; he'd drive himself crazy. On the other hand, they were all anxious for some kind of sign, some sort of clue to XR's location. And Booster was particularly sensitive about these things. Maybe being in here was a weird source of comfort for him.

"I'm just so worried about him!" Booster cried, his ears drooping.

She sighed heavily. "I know, Booster. We're all worried."

"It's weird, you know?" he continued. "It's like he just… disappeared!"

_Disappeared…_ Mira shivered. It _was _as if he'd disappeared, as if he was truly lost, for good… just like she'd told him…

Booster tilted his head. "You okay, Mira?"

She jumped, blinking up at him. "What? Oh… oh, yeah, I'm… I'm fine, just… just worried about XR, you know."

Booster nodded solemnly. A heavy silence fell over them – for which she was grateful. Booster could be a great comfort himself, she admitted, the way he didn't ask questions, didn't pry into people's business. He was so trusting, so accepting of what anybody said to him… it was impossible to get mad at him, when you knew… when you knew he'd take whatever you said to heart, when you knew you could leave a serious impression on him… one negative comment could really set him back, could really, really hurt him…

"Mira?"

She jumped again, gasping sharply. "What? What's wrong?"

He was watching her carefully, concernedly… "What did you come in here for?"

She blinked. She'd come in here… she'd been looking for Booster, because "Oh - Buzz sent me. We're going back out, see if we have any luck finding him."

"Oh, okay. Where are we looking this time?"

"A few small planets on the edge of the galaxy. Unpopulated. Buzz thinks NOS-4-A2 might be trying to trick us by hiding somewhere away from any kind of technology."

Booster frowned. "But – NOS-4-A2 needs technology, doesn't he? He needs an energy source… where would he get that?"

Mira's eyes widened; she stared up at him, an unpleasant mix of pity and worry and nausea blooming in the pit of her stomach.

It finally seemed to hit Booster; his eyes widened and he gasped, his hands flying to his mouth. He stared worriedly down at her.

"You don't think…?"

She cut him off. "I don't know."

He fell silent, shifting his feet. Finally he asked, in a soft, scared voice, "Do you think we'll find him this time?"

"I hope so, Booster. I hope so."

He nodded, wringing his hands. Neither one said anything further, neither of them moved. For a long time the only sounds were the humming of the LGMs' computers, the occasional click of one of them typing. Mira found it unbearable to listen to after a while, for reasons she couldn't quite name, and she turned to the door, muttering "Come on, let's go."

Booster traipsed after her as she headed down the hall, hugging herself.

What if Buzz was right? What if the vampire was relying solely on XR for energy? What if it was… already too late?

She shuddered. No. No, she wouldn't let herself think that. They'd find him, they _had _to… He _had_ to be okay… They couldn't lose him, no, she wouldn't lose him to that vampiric creep…

_If you hadn't made that stupid joke in the first place, we wouldn't be out here right now…_

She flinched. _No. It's not your fault. It's just a coincidence, that's all. Everything will be okay, you'll see. You'll find him and you'll set everything right._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_'Watch me fault her  
__"You're living like a disaster"  
__She said  
__Kill me faster  
__With strawberry gashes all over'  
_~Jack Off Jill, 'Strawberry Gashes'

Hope was a funny thing. It crept up on you when you least expected it, but often when you needed it most.

There was a bright side to being drained slowly and painfully, after all. Oh sure. Yeah, one of Booster's silver linings. He wasn't dead, see?

And where there's life there's hope right? If he was alive... he could be rescued.

And they_ would_ come for him.

Oh, yeah, definitely. Surely_ somebody_ missed him by now. Booster, in all likelihood. Mira - well, Mira had made it pretty clear just what she felt about him. He shook his head, fighting back a weird pressure that had built up in his chest. He wouldn't let himself think about her. No. She wasn't worth his dwelling on. Buzz- who knew WHAT went on in that man's head? XR thought he probably didn't want to know. Nebula… well, okay, he was probably just glad XR was out of his hair. His own father. (He allowed himself a slight sniffle of self-pity at this thought.)

But surely they were looking for him.

He was a member of their team, after all. As much as he got on their nerves- (did he- get on their nerves? no, surely not! well... maybe Mira... maybe, a little) he provided invaluable services to them. None of THEM could pick a lock with their fingers, after all. None of THEM had flashlights built into their eyes. None of THEM had built-in spy cams that could sneak around corners. No way. They _needed_ him.

So they would come find him.

He was sure of it. They couldn't just leave him here. Sure it was still possible, he told himself. Even if he couldn't send out a distress signal, sooner or later NOS-4-A2's nighttime attacks would draw attention. They'd track him down, and then they'd find him. They'd rescue him, take him back to Star Command.

They needed him there, after all.

He heard a sound from somewhere above and he gasped, head lifting. He leaned forward, eyes wide and bright- that had to be them now! He was sure of it! They were coming-

"Good evening," NOS drawled.

_"Craters!" _he cried in dismay, pulling back and burying his face in his hands. He DID this, the jerk. He played these stupid mind games. Oh it chafed his chassis.

NOS laughed- the laughter had a hint of something approaching boredom in it, which made XR bristle and mutter unintelligibly under his breath. NOS went by him off into the reaches of his lair to go do whatever, probably… rearrange something. Yeah. He shivered – no, he couldn't let himself think about what kinds of things NOS liked to do when he wasn't hunting. All that mattered was what NOS was going to do with _him…_

XR listened anxiously to be sure he wasn't going to be drained again tonight, then he shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut miserably and withdrawing as far as he could. No. No rescue tonight.

Well… that, that didn't mean anything… they'd still come, they'd come for him.

He was sure they would…

NOS stopped whatever he was doing and there was silence for a moment and XR sighed heavily. Maybe NOS really would go to sleep tonight without bothering him, maybe he'd get at least one night of peace. It wasn't too much to ask, really.

Then he heard fluttering wings.

He drew back from the noise, whimpering. Oh no. Ohhh no- Why did he get his hopes up like this, he knew what was coming, he knew every night… he knew… he… he couldn't be blamed for wanting this to end, wanting to leave this place and never again have to feel…

Claws seized him around the middle and suddenly he was filled with it.

Pain. The feeling seemed to pour into him, trickling down through his neck and inexorably filling him up from his feet to his head, making him want to cry, scream, throw up ANYTHING that would get some of this pain out, he felt as if you could take off his service panel and all the pain would just flood out into a puddle… leaving nothing left of him at all.

And each time it got worse. Each time he grew weaker. Each time he became more vulnerable, and just when he thought it couldn't possibly intensify any further, it did. He couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't, he couldn't…

"_JUST KILL ME!"_

The horrible sensation of being drained slowly faded. He felt a jabbing twinge as his captor's teeth left his neck. The sharpness of the pain ceased, leaving a dull ache that spread through his whole body. NOS-4-A2 straightened up, but kept hold of him. He could almost see the bemused smirk on the energy vampire's face. He could both hear and feel his motor vibrating within him, just as... tortured as the rest of his body.

"Please," he murmured weakly. "Please, just kill me…"

Even if he got back to Star Command... this was his life. He was beginning to realize that now. Today it was NOS-4-A2. Tomorrow it might be Zurg, or one of his own siblings gone rogue. Or something else, something worse than this. Expendable. He was built for this. _This_ was what he was good for. This was _all _he was good for.

"Kill you?" his tormentor repeated in mock confusion. He chuckled. XR shivered. "I think not. I have yet to tire of our game."

_His voice, every word he spoke was so smug and cruel…_

"But perhaps you have, little one?" he asked, a low, smooth whisper. "Well then, I suppose I should stop… for tonight. Let you… sleep on it. See how you feel tomorrow."

He bent over his captive again. XR tensed with a soft whimper.

Stinking parasite. He knew darn well how XR would feel tomorrow. He _knew_.

"Rest up, little one…"

His grip tightened before he released him and left, taking flight on energized wings.

XR sighed heavily. He waited until the sound of NOS-4-A2's wings faded away. He didn't know where he'd gone. Didn't care. He was alone.

But the pain from the attack lingered, almost as strong as if the energy vampire was still biting him. He moaned softly. He could feel it coursing through him, making him tremble, shake, harder and harder-

XR pushed himself up, pressing his lips together and hugging his knees tightly to his chest in a weak attempt to stabilize. It hurt to shake. It hurt to do pretty much anything anymore.

He moaned, resting his head on the cool glass of his helmet. He'd just _had_ to open his big mouth. He just _couldn't_ have waited another few seconds. Then he would have passed out, like every other night. And he wouldn't be awake feeling like THIS.

He should have known, he grumbled to himself. He should have known if he begged for mercy, NOS would turn up the heat.

He realized suddenly that he'd never actually been awake after one of the attacks. This was the first time NOS-4-A2 had stopped before he'd blacked out. And it hadn't been that way just for the past few… he had no idea how long, time had no meaning here… but all the times he'd been attacked.

Well, if only he'd gone on like that. He would much rather be asleep right now than have to be conscious enough to feel this. How he'd ever survived these attacks before, he'd never know…

The pain was actually starting to make him feel sick. Dizzy. Not completely… lucid. The room was spinning. It felt like the floor was tilting, like it was trying to push him off, to drop him into an endless abyss…

With a panicked moan, he dragged himself over to the wall. He pressed his hands to it, trying to stabilize his senses, trying to calm himself. His engine was whirring loudly, protesting against the effort of moving. Something inside him ground together and he made an odd, squawking sound. _No. No, don't throw up, you won't get anything back, don't… He won't like it if you throw up again, no…_

It was going to be a long night. He'd probably be up like this all night, awake with this terrible pain. Weak and shaky and all scraped up from the floor. So sick he felt as though he might just puke up his own engine next. Seeking comfort from a _wall._

"Oh, no, I'm fine."

The shrill, nasty voice rang out in the enclosed space like a gunshot, loaded with bitter sarcasm.

"Beaten, drained, terrified, blind, DISMEMBERED and in incredible agony but fiiiine. I've never been better! Heck, this is my _prime_ directive! Here, NOSy, drain a little more, I can take it!"

He was alone now after all, he could risk this- maybe by now he wouldn't even have held back if NOS _was _there.

"In fact, why don't you slap me before you leave me all alone in the dark? I don't mind. Go ahead and do whatever you want. Hit me. No, no, here, it'll hurt more if you do it here."

A twisted chuckle rang out of the dark.

"Hey, you! The space rangers! Guess what! I don't need ya! I'm having SO much fun- go home, Buzz! Mira, you never really cared. You _wanted_ me gone! Sayanora! Don't BOTHER! Booster- you can just-"

The sarcasm suddenly faltered for a bit, deserting him without warning. He stammered, searching for the confidence burst that had drained so rapidly- "Booster- you can-"

He was startled to hear himself choke out a single, high-pitched sob.

"Booster-"

Now his voice was rising into a tortured scream, wait, no, no-

"_BOOSTER! MIRA! BUZZ! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! NO! NO! BOOSTER-"_

XR felt himself collapse for the umpteenth time and was forcefully overcome by painful, racking sobs, curling in on himself and wrapping his arms around his body in a tight squeeze… well, why not, no one else was gonna hug him.

_Where is Booster?_

Nebula - well, he had never really cared. Buzz - he was too caught up in rules and routines to go out of his way to chase after untraceable robots. Mira - well, Mira was probably glad to have him gone too.

But Booster…

Booster stood by him. Booster stood up for him. Booster covered for him when he messed up, Booster messed around with him. He told Booster things he just didn't tell the other two. Booster was his best friend.

And even he hadn't shown up.

Didn't he miss him? Wasn't he _worried? _Booster was his _best friend…_

…was he Booster's best friend?

Wasn't he? Didn't- Didn't Booster like him?

Didn't _anyone_ care about him?

His whole body throbbed with the pain that simply would not die. The dull whirring in his chest created a rhythm that eventually lulled him to sleep. Blissful sleep. An escape.

It wouldn't last. It never had.

---

When NOS came back he found his little captive sitting quietly by the wall, leaning against it with his eyes closed.

As he approached XR NOS considered for a moment whether it'd be more fun to shake him awake rudely or sit there and wait for his presence to be noticed, or... what.

Before he decided on something, though, he realized his prey wasn't asleep after all... he was looking up at NOS with dull, tired eyes, and before NOS could speak

"Oh, you're back," he said, his voice as dull as his face. "Well, g'head. Get it over with."

NOS cocked his head to the side. If he'd had eyebrows one would be raised quizzically. He'd seen this state before, oh yes. Most victims came to it sooner than XR, actually. In fact, the tiny robot had held out a good 48 hours longer than NOS had expected.

No matter. Just a little more prying, was all he needed. NOS drummed his claws against his chin, considering… There had to be _something_ that would provoke a response from…

His claws froze. Now, _there _was an idea… Feigning intense interest in the sharpness of his claws, he let out the closest approximation to a sigh he could manage, assuming a bored tone. "You know, I'd really expected more of them."

He glanced sideways at his prey. The little robot stared blankly back. A long moment passed as he blinked, tired eyes sliding shut and open sluggishly. "More of who?" His voice was low and slurred.

NOS shrugged exaggeratedly. "Oh, you know… more of your team. Of your… _friends."_

His prey flinched. He grinned excitedly. _Yes, that was it… _He forced himself to maintain a casual attitude, making a show of straightening his cape. "I would've thought they'd at least make an _effort _to rescue you. They are rangers, after all, they're supposedly good at what they do… I really thought this was going to be more of a challenge, capturing you. I'm rather disappointed, truth be told. I was looking forward to a confrontation. But oh well, I suppose we don't always get what we want."

He paused, waiting. XR had turned away and squeezed his eyes shut. NOS frowned. More, then – he was asking for it.

"Perhaps they realize they don't stand a chance." Pause… nothing. "Or, more likely, they're just all very busy. More important issues at hand, I suppose."

XR whimpered; his lips started trembling. NOS pushed on, dropping all pretenses and leaning forward, his eyes glowing fiercely.

"Where are they now, little one?" he whispered. "Can you think of any reason – _any_ at all – why they _wouldn't be here?"_

His prey kept whimpering. He started mumbling, incoherent little whiny half-words that, after a moment, started sounding something like 'they could still come'. Oh, now, that was precious. NOS couldn't help but snicker at that one. He was getting close now, he could tell… Years of torturing victims, of making sure his prey suffered as much as possible, made him an expert at gauging the perfect moment to attack. He could see it now in those tired eyes, could feel hopelessness emanating from his worn victim… That moment was approaching. NOS leaned closer still, his claws curling around XR's arms. The little robot whined in protest and squirmed slightly, but caused no further trouble. He couldn't fight anymore. Just didn't have it in him. It was a shame, really – took some of the fun out of it. NOS put his face right up to XR's helmet, watching him intently.

"Don't you think," he hissed, "if you mattered to them – _at all _– they would have been here by now?"

The little robot cried out. That was it, he'd snapped, broken down… NOS lunged, driving his fangs into his prey's neck. His prey shuddered in response. It started crying softly, a weak, empty sound. All he could hope for at this point, really. Years of doing this had made him an expert; he could tell fairly easily, even in an unusual case such as this, how much longer a specimen would last.

That moment was approaching.

---

His prey never actually lost consciousness after that. Eventually he'd just had to stop because… well, he was running out of time. He wanted to squeeze as much fun out of his little toy as possible.

After he'd pulled away his prey had just sort of… slumped down the wall and curled up in a tight little ball, his hands clenched weakly at his neck. NOS had been pacing the room ever since, weighing the situation in his mind.

The fact remained that there was nothing he could do about it. His prey was expiring. …Not in the gasping-his-life-out-like-a-gutted-fish-only-five-minutes-to-live sense, just in the sense that... NOS could tell the end of his fun would come any day now, and that made him MAD. He'd have to get a new robot, and it wouldn't be one this satisfying, either. All things considered, it had gone fairly well up til this moment. He thought his fun would've been over by now. XR had really had this coming for a long time.

NOS stopped pacing in front of the little robot. He sighed irritatedly and bent down over the disgusting little thing, looking it over with a scowl.

There it was... lying in its little heap... whimpering intermittently... and shaking...

Yeah, he'd seen this before. This was the final stage, after this came… well, nothing. Turning the thing onto its back, he felt it over with one clawed hand, ignoring its weak little whining protests. He closed his eye, concentrating; this way he could tell with a little more certainty just how much time he had left.

He was unsurprised to find the heat and vibration of an overworked engine. His prey would eventually short out- maybe tomorrow, maybe next week- and leave him once again bored and prey-less. Sigh-sigh.

Okay, maybe he could fix it up if he wanted to, get a charger, some oil... but why bother? It would be about the same amount of trouble as just getting a new one...

...and XR would make an excellent trophy for his- floor.

---

When NOS had had enough of poking and prodding his prey, he went to bed, leaving XR alone again.

Alone with his thoughts, his fears. Alone with the awful whirring in his chest. Alone with the prospect of never escaping this.

He began to cry. It started soft, low, weak… it built up inside his chest until it was a full-fledged sobbing. The sound of it echoed around the cold concrete walls, ricocheting back to him, filling the room like a macabre symphony.

But he couldn't stop, even if he'd wanted to. No matter that it was pathetic. No matter that the noise was awful. No matter that his helmet was filling with water. It was a release, however small, from the pain. The pain built up a- a tension- a pressure within him, you could call it- which made him feel as if he'd explode if he didn't do _some_thing. And so he... well... cried. He was simply too tired to do any more.

If he'd had more strength in him, he might have done something else. Might have protested this whole situation a bit more vehemently, might have at least put up some semblance of a fight.

But tonight, all he could do was cry. It hurt.

Inside his coffin, NOS-4-A2 closed his one lidded eye in pleasure. Yes. Yes, XR was proving to be a most satisfactory prisoner. Mmm.

The echoing sobs fed the thing with in him, the coldly amused voice in the back of his head that drove him to... play with his food, you could say.

Lovely.

He was sorry when the noise faded to a stop, as it always did... eventually, XR was too tired and drained even to cry.

Maybe next night...

XR felt his tired body relax as the sobbing slowly faded and gave a soft sigh of relief. That little crying spree had all but worn him down completely; all he had to do now was wait for sleep to come. He was certainly exhausted enough. He couldn't do this much longer. There wasn't much fight left in him… Soon he wouldn't be able to fight at all. …oh well, why worry about that, soon he'd be asleep anyway and he wouldn't have to feel anything, wouldn't have to think about anything.

Wouldn't have to think about the incredible pain he was in, wouldn't have to think about how his engine was shuddering in protest inside him, wouldn't have to think about how the concrete was making it impossible to become comfortable…

This wasn't right…

Sleep was supposed to be peaceful, the only thing he had even a chance at enjoying anymore but now he was hot and miserable, tossing and turning on the hard, unforgiving concrete with soft cries issuing from his mouth. Why, why was this happening to him, what had he done to deserve this-

Inside his coffin, NOS-4-A2 scowled irritably. Yes, definitely expiring, what a pain. Whiny little thing… He rolled onto his side and went back to sleep.

Outside on the concrete XR whimpered and tried to burrow his way into the floor. No, no, it was too much, he couldn't take it…

His mind began to fog over, presenting him with crazy visions- he rolled onto his back and moaned out a feeble protest.

_He burst into the room, absolutely glowing with happiness. "Guys! Guys! I'm back! Look! Look, it's me!"_

_Booster looked up half-heartedly, then returned to his sandwich. Buzz didn't even seem to notice he was there. Mira shot him a look and went back to her magazine. _

_He felt what he called his heart drop sickeningly. "What? Hey! It's me! Look, guys, it's me, I'm back, I'm safe-"_

"_Yes, we heard you," Mira snapped, not looking up from her magazine._

"_Don't you- don't you care?" he implored, feeling like the world had gone wrong, like there was nothing to live for-_

"_Well, XR, I was hoping when I told you to disappear you'd take the hint and not come back," Mira said shortly, standing up and turning her back on him._

NOS-4-A2 sighed and covered his eyes with one hand. The thing would not quit MOANING, argh-

"N- No! No! Mira! Stop!" it began to yelp.

Hmm. Well. Maybe he could make the best of this after all, NOS mused. He'd heard delirious prey before, but no one shouting names he actually knew- now, which one was Mira? …the big round one?

"Mira, come back, I need you…" it continued to mumble. "I love ya, Mira, come back…"

Ooh, no, not the round one, the Tangean. NOS wriggled in glee. His prey had a crush on the pretty Tangean! Oh, how FUNNY!

"Mira wait! Wait, please - I promise I'll stop hitting on you!"

Really, this was just _too_ good! Oh, this showed excellent promise for torture material… pity the little thing was wearing out…

"Mira… Mira, please! Don't go!"

NOS snickered. How pathetic, how hilariously pathetic. He could listen to this all night.

"Don't leave me, please! Mira!"

…Well, maybe not _all _night, the thing was dreadfully simple-minded. Besides, he could only stand to hear those awful organic names so many times…

"Mira! Guys, please, don't… Mira! _Miii-raaaa!!"_

NOS-4-A2 groaned, pushing up the lid of his coffin. He gripped the edge, leaning over it and howling;

"SWEET MOTHER OF VENUS, SHUT _UP!!!"_

The dream world seemed to shatter into millions of tiny, fractured, warped reflections of itself, painfully mocking. The fragments slowly began to… slide away… leaving darkness…

He opened his eyes. The darkness remained. He pushed himself up slightly, blinking into the nothingness. Where was he? What happened? Cold. Cold- wet- concrete-

The memories of the past few days came flooding into him suddenly, pain and fear and mocking and cruel and lonely, hurt, crying-

Eyes, eyes, red eyes- HIS eyes.

XR yelped.

"Stop that this INSTANT! You're disturbing my rest!" NOS-4-A2 hissed at him.

XR gulped and nodded. "Yeah, yeah… s-s-sorry…" Inwardly he wondered why he was supposed to be sorry. When NOS wouldn't stop glaring at him, he hastily added, "M-master..."

NOS-4-A2 frowned at him. "Very good."

He lay down, the coffin lid closing over him with a soft hiss.

XR sighed and collapsed back onto the concrete.

_Dream. Dream. Bad dream. Mira wanted to…_

_No. It was just a dream, just a dream, it wasn't real…_

_But none of them have come for you yet,_ a nasty voice in the back of his mind whispered. _Y'know what that MEANS, don't you? It means it's true. It's so obvious. You've BEEN a space ranger, you know how efficient they are, they don't want you, no, they never did-_

_NO! no, you're wrong- they'll come for me- they'll be here… you'll see…_

He whimpered and rolled onto his side, softly crying himself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Prison gates won't open up for me  
__On these hands and knees I'm crawlin'  
Oh, I reach for you  
Well I'm terrified of these four walls  
These iron bars can't hold my soul in  
All I need is you  
Come please I'm callin'  
And oh I scream for you  
Hurry, I'm fallin', I'm fallin'  
_~Nickelback, 'Savin Me'

XR lay motionless in what had become his usual spot, curled up into his usual little ball. He listened to NOS getting ready for the hunt, hearing it as though from a great distance. Senses failing. Well, that was to be expected. There was little left in him that was still functioning. If nothing else, this entire experience was becoming completely predictable. NOS left, he had a few hours of peace, NOS came back, NOS tortured him, he got weaker, NOS got stronger, NOS left again. A twisted sort of merry-go-round. And in a bizarre, pathetic sort of way, XR had come to rely on this dreadful routine. It was all he was absolutely sure of anymore.

The soft clattering and clicking stopped suddenly and XR stiffened. This… this was something different. He hadn't heard the wings, the wings were supposed to come before the silence. NOS wasn't supposed to stay here, NOS was supposed to leave and give him his few hours of peace, this just wasn't right…

Weakly he lifted his head, straining to see into the darkness. He couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything… maybe NOS _had_ gone, maybe his senses had just gotten so bad he just hadn't heard the wings, maybe…

A pair of clawed hands seized him, lifting him off the ground so quickly his head spun. He gasped sharply; when his vision focused he stared wide-eyed at NOS-4-A2, who leered back at him.

His mind protested vehemently. No. No, this wasn't right, this wasn't right at all, NOS-4-A2 hadn't left for the hunt yet. He was supposed to leave for the hunt first, he wasn't supposed to attack him NOW, _what was going on?!?_

The energy vampire dove forward, his fangs piercing XR's torso with a sickening _clunk._

XR tensed, gasping and sputtering. He couldn't make a sound, could barely move. He could feel every amp as it left him, and an absurd part of him tried desperately to hold on to them somehow - he wasn't sure how many he had left.

The pain was worse than ever, thanks to his badly weakened system. He could feel it, pushing in where his energy had left, seeping into every part of his worn body… he couldn't stand any more…

He let out a plaintive wail. Something deep within him snapped and the wail seemed to echo- intensify, swell, become a SCREAM- a high-pitched, mechanical siren from deep down inside his chest.

---

Booster sat in his usual seat, drumming his fingers anxiously on the screen in front of him. No luck, still no luck… every single time they went out, no luck… you'd think by now they would've found at least _some_thing…

Something suddenly appeared on his monitor. A solid whine emitted from it. Booster jumped, leaning over the screen, his heart racing. That signal seemed familiar… Could it be…?

He did a systems check on the frequency. It _was…_

Booster's heart soared. He sat straight up, cheering.

"Hey guys! Guys! I got a distress signal from XR!"

Mira whirled around in her seat, eyes wide. Buzz turned and fixed Booster with a serious look.

"You sure about that, Booster?"

"Uh-huh! Positive! It's him, Buzz, it's really him!" he shouted, bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Where's it comin' from?"

"Uh…" Booster leaned over the monitor, squinting. "Tradeworld, Buzz!"

"_Tradeworld?!" _Mira squeaked. "But we _checked_ there!"

"We must've missed something; the energy vampire's notoriously stealthy," Buzz said, turning back with a determined look. "Booster, set a course for Tradeworld, and trace the exact location of that signal!"

"Yes sir!" Booster saluted, leaning over his monitor with barely-contained joy. They were going to find him, finally…

---

NOS-4-A2 wrenched his fangs out of XR, watching with pleasure as the little robot shuddered in agony. He tossed the thing back down to the ground. XR hit the concrete hard, wincing against the sharp impact before going ominously still.

"Just a taste of what's to come, little one," the energy vampire purred.

He opened his wings, soaring up through the window. The sound of his wings slowly faded, leaving nothing but the awful revving of XR's tired engine.

XR rolled onto his side, shivering. That last attack had been unusually unbearable. He didn't have much energy left. Sniffling, he lifted one hand to what served as his neck, running his fingers over the many punctures left there. Two for each night. Too many to count. All that time, and they still hadn't found him. That was the bad thing about being drained slowly and painfully. Eventually he'd run out of energy to drain. He didn't have much left, not much at all. One more drain would do it. He could feel it.

His time was up.

He curled up into a ball, too tired and out of it to want to cry, or even to be all that sure he wanted to live... oh well. Either way was fine.

---

The soft night breeze blew across her face and Mira shuddered slightly. The air seemed charged with anxiety.

She bit her lip unhappily, staring down at the dirty street. If XR was really down there, she should be able to sense his presence by now. Her Tangean intuition was good for that much... she hoped.

She shuddered again and raised her gaze to the dark, eerie night sky. Tradeworld had no stars. Too much pollution.

Catching the combined noise of Buzz's grunt and the manhole cover hitting the ground, she turned to see her teammate standing over an empty hole, frowning into it.

She crept closer, eyes wide and anxious, and looked down into it as well.

Behind them, Booster whimpered.

"Well, now or never…" Mira mumbled, running her tongue over her dry lips.

---

Mira scanned the room and shivered. This place was so creepy - dark, cold… and filled with lifeless shells of robots. She made a face. NOS-4-A2 was totally disgusting, keeping his victims' corpses around like that.

And speaking of victims… She was getting more and more worried; there was absolutely no life in this room, and she hadn't even seen…

"XR!" Booster shouted. He bounded across the room to his little friend.

Mira ran after him, heart pounding. They'd found him. Thank God, they'd finally found him, and he was... asleep, that was all, just sleeping- yeah, so much for preparing herself.

Oh well. It was better to hope.

"XR? XR, wake up!" Booster reached out and shook XR's shoulder. The little robot jumped and shouted. His eyes shot open.

Mira recoiled, her own eyes widening. He didn't- look right.

"AHH! Don't come any closer!"

His voice was slurred, and he almost seemed to be looking THROUGH Booster- but Booster was too upset to notice.

"What? XR, it's me, Booster!"

"No! Stay away! Stay away from me!"

The little robot turned away, curling up into a tight ball and emitting a pathetic whimper. His motions looked weak and uncoordinated. Mira bit her lip, getting down to her knees and reaching out to try and touch him somehow, comfort him- but he squirmed away, moaning.

"What's wrong with him?" Booster asked.

Mira shook her head. "I don't know. I-I don't think he knows who we are."

She could just barely feel the weak essence-of-self he was giving off. She usually felt XR so strongly- what _happened?_

"Why?" Booster pled. "How can he not know us?"

"I don't know, Booster…"

She looked up at her small teammate, frowning miserably. He was curled up into a tight ball, shielding his face and neck and trembling all over. It hurt to see him like that.

Suddenly a determined gleam came into her eye. Why hadn't she thought of this before?

"...but I know how we can find out."

She reached out, ghosting her hand through his helmet into his head. She took hold of his brain chip and closed her eyes, concentrating. It was difficult, XR began to flail and whimper, but she somehow managed to hold him down...

Booster watched wide-eyed. "What is it?" he breathed anxiously.

Mira shook her head again. Sometimes these things took time. She didn't even know if she could do this on robots. Maybe she couldn't. She started to doubt. XR was flipping around a lot. She wasn't even sure if it was going to work-

Then he went limp. It scared her into mustering up an extra burst of concentration. Finally something came to her. Her eyes opened wide.

"He was dreaming… he- he thought you were NOS-4-A2," she whispered in shock.

Booster's jaw dropped. "What?"

Mira shifted her hand slightly, frowning in disbelief. "The energy vampire's been torturing him… every night, he's been draining a little more of his energy."

"Oh no!" Booster moaned. "Poor XR!"

Mira started to pull her hand away, then paused, frowning. "Wait, wait… I'm getting something else…"

She closed her eyes again. Something was coming to her… something big…

She gasped, eyes flying open and hand jerking away. She scrabbled backwards, staring at XR in shock.

"What?" Booster asked urgently. "What is it?"

Mira gaped at her small teammate, taking deep, shaky breaths. When she finally spoke her voice was barely above a whisper. "I… I just felt…"

She was cut off by the whir of electrical wings. NOS-4-A2 appeared in the window, swooping down to hover before them.

"Well, Rangers, I see you've found my secret lair. I congratulate you," he said flatly.

Mira glared at him. Seething, she rose to her feet, moving to stand firmly between XR and NOS-4-A2. She held out her wrist laser, aiming directly at the energy vampire.

"You monster," she growled.

NOS-4-A2 stared back at her. If he'd had eyebrows they would be raised, however he didn't have them and so could only smirk incredulously. No, really. Tch. This was downright amusing. Something triggered in his memory codes; he thought back to his annoying little captive's delirious mumbling. _The pretty Tangean…_ He grinned.

"Oh, really, isn't this charming. The plucky girlfriend standing up for her pathetic lover."

Mira's eyes widened. What the-

"I suppose I could wake him up and make him watch me kill you, but I can't trust that he'd be lucid."

Mira stared up at him, gasping. This man was unbelievable. Did he really think she and XR-

"OW!"

She'd let her guard down for barely an instant and he'd taken advantage of it, shoving her in the chest- hard.

"Mira!" Booster gasped, then rounded on the energy vampire. "Nobody hurts my friends!" he yelled, punching NOS-4-A2 hard in the face.

NOS spun in mid-air. He caught himself and shook it off, scowling at the space rangers. Tricky situation; this required him to use some of the juicy energy he'd absorbed from the little one. He hated to part with it - but he had no choice. And if it meant the rangers' demise, it would be worth it.

He concentrated on that energy, gathering it, building it up… he focused on pushing it outwards… he threw his hands up, sending a charge throughout the room which hit the various robots that lay lifeless around his lair.

The robots jerked to life, getting up to stand stiff and awkward all around him.

"Rise, my children, destroy the rangers!" he commanded, being sure to specify who to attack this time. In these kinds of operations, mistakes like that were _really _ego-damaging.

The robot zombies slowly turned toward Mira and Booster, who backed against each other, wrist lasers out.

Mira fired at the closest robot, then turned her laser on two others approaching from the side. Something grabbed her ankle and she shrieked. Looking down, she saw a dismembered robot hand clinging to her foot. She squealed in disgust and tried to shake the thing off, sending a carefully-aimed laser blast at the severed wrist.

The hand started to back away - but another zombie took advantage of the distraction to tackle her from behind, pinning her to the ground. She struggled to free herself but the robot's dead weight was too much. Booster noticed her plight and seized the robot, pulling it away effortlessly. In one smooth motion he turned and swung the zombie in his hands into an approaching line of attackers, smashing several of them into pieces.

Mira scrambled to her feet, narrowly dodging a robot with a chainsaw for an arm. She fired at the arm until it shattered, then aimed a kick at the robot's flimsy looking body.

Across the room Booster had just taken out a horde of zombies by sitting on them, and was now charging at a new group, apparently intent on smashing them into the wall. He was flattening the cursed machines by the dozen. They were lucky to have him on their team, really, she didn't know what they'd ever do without…

Something cold and hard suddenly seized her around the waist and lifted her off her feet. She yelped and kicked out against whatever had a hold on her, trying to twist around and fire at the thing. Before she could shoot – or even ghost away – the robot zombie lifted her over its head and pitched her across the room. For a few brief, terrifying moments she fell through total darkness, the sounds of the battle ringing in her ears. She came down, not on concrete, but on metal, on something small and hard and round. Stars exploded in her range of vision and she gave a yell of pain, biting her lip against the force of the impact.

Hers wasn't the only cry that rang out into the dark. She jumped a mile, shocked out of her wits by a sound like a tortured cat, only smaller and vaguely mechanical.

Mira sat up. She'd landed on XR. After all he'd been through, she had to go and crash into him. Sweet mother of Venus! Was ANYTHING going to go right tonight?

"XR, I'm so sorry!" she cried unhappily, knowing he probably wouldn't hear her.

XR jumped at the sound of her voice. He sat straight up, staring at her, his mouth wide open.

She winced, expecting another outburst from him. Mother of Venus, that was the LAST thing she needed right now.

Much to her surprise, he reached out, slowly, to touch her face.

"Mira?" he whispered, as though afraid it wasn't true.

"Yes…"

His hand lowered as it sunk in that she really was there. He stared at her a moment longer…

…and then he let out a pitiful cry, throwing his arms around her waist in the weakest cling she'd ever felt.

"Mira! I'm sorry! I'll be good! I swear I will, just please, please, don't let him hurt me anymore, don't let him hurt me anymore, _please…!"_

"XR, it's okay!" She grabbed his shoulders frantically. He didn't sound good. At all. He sounded nearly delirious. "Shh, don't worry! It's okay, I won't let him hurt you again, I promise…"

He stared at her with wide, pleading eyes. Mira bit her lip. She picked him up to cradle him awkwardly in her arms. He was lighter than she remembered- had NOS even bothered to feed his captive? Probably not.

"I promise," she said again, in a quiet tone. She was hoping he'd respond and give her some hope.

He didn't. He was shaking. And he wasn't talking. He should be talking. She pulled him closer, rubbing his back absentmindedly. She winced. He felt really hot to the touch. That couldn't be right.

Laser-fire cut into her thoughts. A fight was still underway; Buzz and Booster needed help.

…but XR needed protecting. Oh, man...

Her father's words echoed in her head, _a queen looks after the populace, not the individual._

Mira carefully set XR down. She straightened up and turned, planting her feet in front of him, facing the situation with determination.

"Stay close to me," she told XR over her shoulder.

He blinked foggily up at her. _Stay close?_ She was giving him permission to cut in on her personal space?

Well, he wasn't going to question it; his worst enemy was out to destroy him, he needed someone to cling to. And he wasn't thinking very clearly any more, anyway.

But he was weak on his feet. He shook and swayed. He tried to reach out and take hold of Mira's leg, but she moved before he could. She was moving, she was trying to fight off all the zombie robots, it was too fast, she was moving too fast for him…

Moaning slightly, he held out his arms to keep his balance. He shuffled along behind Mira, trying to keep up with her. It was hard.

She kept moving. He whimpered. Couldn't she see she was going too fast? He couldn't DO this! It was too hard!

Crying out weakly, he collapsed into a heap. It was too much for him.

Slowly he lifted his head and blinked into the darkness, trying to clear his vision. He could just barely make out Mira somewhere in front of him… she was definitely out of grabbing range. He summoned up what little strength he had left in him and began to try pulling himself across the room. The concrete scraped against his chest, his arms, aggravating countless wounds. But he had to keep up with Mira, he _had_ to… if he didn't…

A dark figure descended before him, eclipsing his view of her. He gasped sharply; fearfully he glanced up into the energy vampire's face. NOS was staring down at him in deadly silence, frowning. XR yelped, hastily pushing himself backwards on fiercely wobbling limbs. NOS-4-A2 advanced slowly.

"Mira… Mira…" XR cried weakly.

"She can't save you, little one… no one can…"

"No… no, please, master, PLEASE! _NO!_"

XR. Mira turned and gasped. XR was up against a wall on the floor in a position somewhere between sitting and lying down, his hands clutching the base of his helmet. NOS-4-A2 was hovering over him.

"You think your rangers have won? Think again, little one… Your friends have forced me to end our time together."

"No no, please…" He shook his head.

"You wanted me to kill you, then so be it…"

XR screamed, shutting his eyes tight and backing as far against the wall as possible. Not NOW, he couldn't die NOW-

_XR…_ "NO!" Mira hurtled toward them, her heart racing… NOS-4-A2 was closing in… she didn't have much time… She leapt forward and ghosted through NOS-4-A2.

XR cringed, bracing himself against the attack. He felt a pair of hands seize him around the middle. But they weren't sharp, cold, and metallic - they were soft, warm, and gentle… And then he had the strange sensation of being weightless… of being mass-less… There was only one person who could make him feel that way…

_Mira…_

He opened his eyes. Mira had pulled him back right through NOS-4-A2, leaving the energy vampire to crash headlong into the wall. She sprinted back across the room, pulling XR tight to her.

"Buzz, it's not safe for XR, I've gotta get him out of here!"

"Negative, Ranger, we need you here!" Buzz shot back, fending off another zombie robot.

Mira skidded to a stop, gracefully sliding in a loop and staring back at Buzz with wide eyes. _I'm sorry. WHAT did you say?_

"NOS-4-A2 is trying to shut XR down! If I don't get him out of here, we'll LOSE him!" she insisted in her most demanding princess voice, too busy to notice XR was hugging her neck weakly and staring behind her at NOS with a horrified look.

She didn't mention the emotional toll another attack would take on him. She had a feeling Buzz wouldn't understand. Then again, up until a few minutes ago, neither had she.

Buzz studied her determined face, glanced down at XR - who was still staring backwards in distress, too shell-shocked to do much else - then looked back at Mira.

"Alright," he sighed. Well, this WAS why they were here... "Get XR to safety, and we'll meet you back at 42 as soon as we can."

Across the room, NOS-4-A2 straightened up and spun around. He spotted XR and screeched, his eyes flaring with rage. XR pointed frantically.

"He's coming back, he's coming BACK!" he cried, burying his face in Mira's shoulder like a child. _Wow, _she thought unhappily, _he's REALLY out of it. …Not like that's obvious or anything. Poor little thing..._

"Mira, _go!_ Booster, hold off the energy vampire!" Buzz ordered.

"You got it, Buzz!" Booster called out as he and Mira dashed off in opposite directions. Mira carefully activated her jetpack, tightening her hold on XR before kicking off from the ground.

Booster charged at NOS-4-A2, throwing all of his weight (quite a considerable amount, really) against the energy vampire, pinning him to the ground and prompting another enraged scream. XR whimpered in her arms as she soared up and through the thick concrete ceiling to the street above.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_'Watch me lose her, it's almost like losing myself... give her my soul, and let them take somebody else.' _~Jack Off Jill, 'Strawberry Gashes'

Mira ghosted herself through the thick ceiling of the prison- lair wasn't right, it was a prison, both for XR and for all those poor machines littering the floor back there- for the last time.

She landed lightly on the grungy Tradeworld street, retracting the wings of her jetpack. She took a minute to catch her breath, the multiple ghostings having drained her energy... though she had to admit this must be nothing compared to how draining a vampire bite must be.

Ha-ha, yep...

She refused to take note of the fact that XR's arms had slipped away from her neck.

She made her way carefully towards the ship, even XR's unusually slight weight becoming heavy after her high output of psychic energy. Climbing the ladder while carrying a robot was difficult, but she did it, not wanting to stay on the planet's surface a minute longer than she had to. Even without taking XR's vulnerability into account- that place gave her the jibbilies.

Once inside the ship, she gently set XR down in her copilot's seat, heaving a sigh of relief as she herself collapsed into Buzz's chair. She closed her eyes, leaning back into the pillowy seat with a- wait a minute-

Mira twisted around to frown at the poofy back of the chair. Was it just her, or did Buzz have some extra padding up here?

Ha-ha, so much for going by the book, she thought, prodding the cushion with her finger.

XR moaned slightly and she turned to look at him, then gasped slightly and bit her lip. He looked... so, so much worse underneath the lights of the ship.

Wincing, she bundled him into her arms once more and began to carry him towards the brig, seeing as that was the only place on the ship with a bed, before realizing how much XR would freak out if he woke up in a cell. Ew. Ew no. She couldn't do that, what was she thinking?

Alright, Mira, what CAN you do with an injured robot? she argued with herself, looking down at him. Take him to Star Command, she answered, then sighed. Well. Yeah. Duh. But it could take a while before Buzz and Booster- Buzz and Booster, oh mother of Venus were they alright-

She shook her head. One thing at a time. XR obviously needed care as soon as possible.

A table, there was a table bolted to the floor in the break room. She carried him in there and laid him down gently on the table, slicking her hair back behind her ear and bending over him with a frown. What looked like dried servo fluid was smeared across his front, caked around a series of little holes... She shuddered and looked away from them.

Gently working her fingers into the seam of his service panel she pried it open to take a look at any internal damage. She winced. He was a mess of broken wires, leaking tubes… Many seemingly non-essential items were missing, and both his energy and oil levels were just about gone.

A chill swept through her at that. _If they had come any later…_ She pushed that thought from her mind. They _had_ reached him in time, he was going to be okay. Searching through his parts with her fingers as gently as she could, she finally retrieved a power cord and pulled it over to the wall outlet.

There she paused. Should she do this? She'd always heard that anyone in shock had to be treated very carefully, as too-sudden attempts at repair could make things worse.

Mira shook her head scowling in frustration. Gah. She'd never treated XR like he was delicate before and he'd survived, hadn't he?

Survived, but barely, she reminded herself.

She sighed defeatedly. What to do? What to... okay, since he was a robot, she probably couldn't KILL him, at least. And he seemed to be unconscious. So she couldn't hurt him by doing this.

Biting her lip trepidatedly, she inserted the plug into the outlet.

XR generated a noise like a computer booting up and Mira jumped out of her skin with a yelp. Upon realizing he hadn't exploded, apparently, she got up and went over to check on him.

He didn't seem any _worse,_ at least, but he didn't look any better either... well, she HAD just plugged him in. Maybe it'd take a little while to help.

Now; should she try to give him oil?

She chewed her lip. It couldn't hurt, could it? There had to be oil around here somewhere. Maybe the pantry. Yeah, maybe he'd kept a few snacks in there. She reluctantly left him to go into the pantry.

Finding a can, she returned to XR. She hesitated at his side. Should she wake him up? He needed rest… but he also needed oil to function.

"XR…" she nudged him gently.

Waking up a worn-out robot wasn't easy. She shook him and poked him (feeling kind of stupid, like she was shaking the lumps out of a pillow) until he finally stirred, looking blearily up at her.

"Here, XR… try to drink this…"

She carefully removed his helmet and held the can out to him. He hesitantly took the can, held it for a minute – she couldn't help but notice how much his hands shook – took one small sip… then another… then stopped. Mira sighed. Maybe he just wasn't up to this. She started to pull the can away…

He sat up slightly, pulling the oil back to his lips. He closed his eyes, taking long, deep gulps. She helped him hold the can up, reaching out to support his head. He drank until the can was almost empty, then leaned back with a heavy sigh.

Mira smiled down at him. Well, that worked at least. She pulled the can away and replaced his helmet. She took a step back, watching him fall back asleep. She'd run out of ideas.

She sighed, leaning over the table and resting her cheek in her palm. She didn't want to leave XR here alone, in case something happened. She just hoped Buzz and Booster would be fine.

It was odd, after being in the middle of so much action, suddenly having nothing to do. All she could do was wait; and in the silence that pervaded the room she could think of nothing but the little teammate lying before her.

She turned her gaze to him once more and let out a soft moan. He really _did _look terrible. Scratches and dents covered his body. Deep scratches, too, not just superficial little scrapes that chipped his paint job, but cuts that pushed into the metal, leaving painful-looking trenches all up and down his arms… His shoulders were smashed in, and one of his arms – she swallowed hard – one of his arms had come loose and the wires were sticking through. It was a wonder he'd even been able to move at all in this condition. His treads looked all torn up. His helmet was cracked in several places, his eyes were dim, and on his face…

She straightened up, leaning over him and staring in disbelief. On his face, just below his eye, were two deep gashes. The eye itself was scraped and dented. She didn't even know his face _could_ be cut into… She shuddered at the thought of how much force had to be behind a blow that cut through metal.

That thought was too much to focus on. She peered over him again; his engine was vibrating slightly within him, emitting a soft, almost pained-sounding whine. Carefully she placed one hand against his arm. Wishful thinking, maybe, but he seemed to be cooling down a bit. He looked a lot more relaxed, anyway. …Okay, what he really looked was out of it, but relaxed sounded so much better.

Mira sighed heavily. Try as she might to block them, the thoughts she'd picked up from XR's mind kept coming back to her. She was still trying to make sense of most of them. One thing was certain; of all the things she could have anticipated to be in XR's head, she never, ever would have guessed she'd feel…

A loud crashing distracted her. She jumped up, whirling around to face the direction of the noise. She could hear footsteps, a muffled yelling, and what sounded like something very large and heavy being dragged. Accompanying all this was a series of deafening bangs and clangs, almost as if something was thrashing against the walls of the ship. Her eyes widened; she debated running after the noise, finding out what was going on… But a very strong, unnamable force was rooting her to the spot - preventing her from leaving his side.

The clangs seemed to be lessening; they sounded more and more distant, until finally, after another huge crash, they stopped altogether. She waited anxiously, on the verge of dashing out of the room, when booming footsteps began pounding her way.

In another instant Booster had dashed by, glancing into the room and running past… Upon realizing what he'd seen he doubled back, skidding to a halt outside the door.

"Buzz, Buzz, they're in here!"

Booster stepped carefully into the room, stopping halfway to the table and peering anxiously at XR, wringing his hands.

"Is he okay?" he asked softly, his tone filled with worry.

Mira stared sadly up at him. She really didn't know herself. But how was she supposed to be anything but optimistic around sweet, caring Booster?

"I… I think so…"

She was spared from having to say any more when Buzz appeared in the doorway, edging past Booster and glancing over XR's motionless form.

"How's XR?" A look of concern crossed his otherwise-confident features.

"Resting." It was the only word she could think to use. After that everything got incredibly complicated. "He's charging, and I gave him some oil…" She indicated the near-empty can perched on the corner of the table. "It was all I could think of," she finished, trailing off uncertainly.

Buzz nodded. "Good work, Ranger. NOS-4-A2's secured in the brig, we're ready to-"

Mira's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "He- he's on the _ship?!"_

Was it her imagination, or did XR flinch beside her…?

Buzz blinked at her. "Well, yeah… we couldn't shut him down. Booster managed to wrestle him into his coffin - they'll take care of 'im once we get back to Star Command."

"You should have seen how Buzz locked him in, Mira, it was sooo cool!" Booster gushed, his face shining with admiration for his hero.

Mira nodded absently. Well, that accounted for all the noise, at least. And she supposed it did really make sense… It didn't explain, though, why she was suddenly that much more alert, why her hand kept wanting to go for her wrist laser, why she was suddenly determined not to let XR out of her sight...

She didn't even notice that Buzz had spoken until she realized he and Booster had turned to leave the room.

"Oh, um… what?"

Buzz turned around and raised an eyebrow at her. "I said, prepare for lift-off."

She nodded, feeling the heat rise in her face, and started off after them.

"Wait!" Booster suddenly cried. "What about XR?"

"What about him?" Buzz asked.

"Well… we can't just leave him here, can we? He'll fall off the table when we take off, won't he?"

Mira looked back at XR, frowning. She hadn't even considered lift-off, she'd been so preoccupied with watching over him. Now that she thought about it, he obviously couldn't stand at his usual post. If he had his own seat, with his own seatbelt, they could just strap him into that, but he _didn't,_ so…

"I'll hold onto him." She heard herself say it, almost automatically.

"You'll… hold onto him?" Buzz repeated slowly.

"Yeah," she shrugged, trying to sound casual and not at all worked up. "I mean, what else can we do with him? Besides, I think he'd want to be close to us, after… well, you know, after… everything…"

She trailed off, staring at the floor. Buzz eyed her strangely, but didn't press the matter further.

"Okay… you hold on to him."

Buzz and Booster headed for the bridge as Mira turned back to XR. As gently as she could, she eased the power cord out of the outlet, slowly wrapping it up and stowing it carefully in his storage compartment. Then she placed her hands gently on his service panel and gingerly eased it back into place. She regarded him for another long moment, then slowly, gently scooped him up into her arms, holding him carefully against her.

She made her way to the bridge slowly, trying not to jostle him too much. She arrived to find Buzz and Booster nearly ready. Trying to ignore the weird looks Buzz was giving her, she carefully took her seat, strapping herself in and making the necessary adjustments to her control panel. When that was finished, she made sure XR was secure in her arms, then looked up at Buzz and nodded. He nodded back and with a final shout of "Lift-off!" they were moving, heading away from that dismal planet at last.

Mira waited until they'd broken free of Tradeworld's atmosphere, then sighed heavily and leaned back in her seat, glancing down at XR. He hadn't said anything since they'd left NOS's lair, hadn't come to since she'd given him that much-needed oil. The only noise he made was a small, insistent buzzing from deep inside his chest. She'd done everything she could think of, but even she could tell it was far from enough. He needed intense care, and he needed it fast.

Buzz noticed her preoccupation. "Don't worry, Mira; we'll be at Star Command soon. They'll take care of him."

As she sighed and nodded - he was right, after all - she felt XR shift in her lap. She looked down to see him shivering slightly (she automatically pulled him a little closer). He let out a soft moan; his eyes fluttered open and he jumped at the sudden change of surroundings.

"Wha-what's going… Mira?"

"Shh, it's okay." She stroked his arm reassuringly. "We're heading back to Star Command now. You just rest."

He nodded as his eyes slowly closed and he curled up against her like a kitten. Mira shot a worried look at Buzz, who gave her a strange glance back. He'd never heard her talk that way to XR before. Her tone was comforting, soothing, even… was it… tender…?

Probably just worried, that was all. She'd been worried about him ever since he disappeared. She was probably just glad to have him back, concerned about getting him fixed up and all that. Well, he thought with a smirk, they'd be back at Star Command soon, and all his problems would be over.

--

The roar of 42's engine slowly died as they came to a stop in the launch bay. Buzz and Booster were out of their seats first; Mira lingered, taking care not to hit XR as she undid her seatbelt. She rose carefully, making sure he was secure in her arms before she followed her team into the station.

They were waiting for her outside the ship. Buzz was telling Booster something; when he saw her, he nodded, then turned and strode down the aisle, Booster at his side. Mira followed a few paces behind. She could tell Buzz was saying something up ahead, but his words blurred together as her mind refused to focus on anything but the little robot in her arms. It felt so weird, after he'd been gone for so long, to have him suddenly back… and back like _this, _in this condition. She'd thought everything would just be fine as soon as they found him. She never imagined she'd end up feeling so lost.

XR had stopped shivering. He'd stopped moving altogether to lay still and unimposing in her arms. She didn't like it, it made him seem… She shuddered and forced that thought away. He'd be okay, he _had _to be okay, she wouldn't let herself think otherwise… But his energy level was dangerously low. Did he even have enough left to keep himself functioning?

The thought ran across her mind before she could stop it, and as a chill slid down her spine XR shuddered in her arms. She jumped, looking down at him. A tight, pained expression crossed his face, his whole body tensing up. He gasped sharply… and relaxed. As he did so his engine gave off a small, slowing whir. Like a computer powering down. Her heart pounded against her ribs; it was all she could do to keep from running the rest of the length to the science bay.

They seemed to be moving at an agonizingly slow pace. Every second that passed, all she could think was how close they had come to losing him, how they had very nearly been too late.

At last they reached the science bay doors and she let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. Buzz and Booster stepped back to allow her to enter first, XR still limp and unresponsive in her arms. She crossed the threshold and made her way carefully down the ramp. The LGMs were scattered around the room; a group of them seemed to form instantaneously and in another moment had crossed the room to stand before her, smiling serenely up at her. Something about the way they looked made her pull XR closer.

"We'll take it from here," one of them informed her simply.

She stared at them in disbelief, suddenly entirely unwilling to let go of XR. They looked completely unperturbed by his condition; in fact, they looked rather like Christmas had come early. She drew back slightly. Why did they look so happy to see him like this? He was hurt, didn't they understand that? Didn't they realize how serious this was? How was she supposed to leave him with _them?_

Because, a more logical voice reminded her, they knew what to do with him. _They_ knew how to fix him up. And she didn't. There was nothing more she could do for him; she just had to accept that. She let out a resigned sigh, kneeling down and holding him out for them.

They'd barely laid their little green hands on him when she tensed up again. _Get a grip, _she warned herself, _they're here to help, _they _know what to do…_

"Be- be careful, you know, he's been through a lot…" she stammered weakly.

"Don't worry!" One of the LGMs attempted a comforting voice.

"We know what we're doing," another added in a tone that was clearly meant to sound reassuring, but only came off as condescending.

She nodded - she was just being irrational, after all, he'd be fine with them, their help was what he really needed now. Reluctantly she allowed them to pull him out of her arms. He changed hands slowly, without moving, without even the slightest indication he had any idea what was going on around him. It was unbearable to watch him like that.

They carried him a few feet away, then dropped him unceremoniously. He crashed to the metal floor with a sharp clang that seemed to echo - not around the room, but _within him._ She could swear she heard the rattle of something breaking loose inside him.

"You said you'd be careful!" she yelped. It was meant to sound angry; it came across more like a plea.

They stared, dumbfounded, back at her. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon, Mira," Buzz was saying. "He'll be okay."

She hesitated, her gaze lingering on XR's motionless form. The LGMs kept glancing warily at her as they began to look him over, trying to act as though her outburst hadn't happened. But she noticed with some satisfaction that they seemed to be proceeding with a bit more caution.

Buzz gave her shoulder a slight squeeze; she could hear him insisting, telling her everything would be okay, there was nothing more they could do here. Finally she gave in, turning away with a heavy sigh. There _was _nothing they could do. They'd gotten him here as fast as possible; that was all they _could_ do, really. Now she just had to trust that everything would go well from here on out.

Such a difficult thing to put faith in when the memories she'd felt in his mind were still so fresh in hers. She felt her stomach twist in remembrance. At the door she paused to glance back at him. He was still motionless; his eyes were still closed, his mouth still slightly open. He looked so helpless, so vulnerable…

Would he really be okay?

---

Mira sat in the cafeteria, picking aimlessly at her food. Eating seemed so trivial. She couldn't bring herself to focus on something so mundane. Not when her thoughts kept going back to her smallest teammate, struggling for survival, tired and hurt, all alone, cold, trapped, scared…

"Mira?"

She jumped, staring wildly around her. Booster was standing in front of her, his own tray piled high with food. He was staring at her in concern, his head tilted slightly.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

She cleared her throat, pushing her tray away purposefully and straightening up, crossing her arms. "Fine. Just fine," she snapped.

He took a seat across from her, watching her carefully. "You looked like something was bothering you…"

"WHY HAVEN'T THE LGMS GIVEN US A STATUS REPORT YET?!?" she yelled suddenly, her voice carrying all the shrill anger of a rebuked princess.

Booster jumped and drew back in alarm, dropping a chicken wing. His eyes widened. Almost everyone in the near-empty cafeteria was staring at her now - she seemed not to notice.

"It's only been a couple hours…" Booster offered sheepishly, trying to recover from the shock of her outburst.

She turned back to him; her eyes seemed to focus on him for the first time and her gaze softened. "I know - I'm sorry Booster, it's just so… I'm just… I mean, he's so…"

He nodded in understanding, his face relaxing as he reached for the chicken again. "I know. I'm worried too."

Talking to Booster was like talking to a sweet, innocent little kid. He made everything seem so simple. Mira sighed heavily, slumping forward over the table and pushing her fingers into her hair.

"I just can't believe… what NOS-4-A2 put him through…"

"But he's okay now, right? I mean, we found him… he'll be okay, Mira, I'm sure he'll be okay."

She looked up at him. He stared back with wide, hopeful eyes, and she couldn't really tell who he was trying to convince.

She sighed again, resting her cheek in her palm. "You're right, Booster." He was so open and honest all the time that it was easier to believe everything would be okay when he said it.

But it wasn't enough to drive the fear _completely_ away. "I just hope the LGMs don't run into too many problems. I mean - you saw how he looked - he's in such bad shape…"

"Who, XR? Oh, he'll be fine."

Mira jumped again and looked around to see that Buzz had arrived. He gave her a confident smirk as he slid onto the seat next to her and dove into his food without another word.

She stared at him incredulously. How could he be _so _sure? He'd seen XR just as clearly as she had, he'd seen how beat up he was…

Buzz finally noticed her staring and froze mid-chew, glancing around as though trying to find the real focus of her disbelieving gaze. He swallowed hard and raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's not like it's anything he's not used to by now."

Her eyes widened. She stared at him in silent horror for a moment, then fury boiled up inside her. She got to her feet with such force she knocked the table sideways and Booster spilled his drink.

"I've gotta go," she muttered through clenched teeth, yanking her tray towards her and storming away from them.

Buzz watched her go, looking as though she'd slapped him before she left.

"What was that about?" he asked. Booster shrugged uncertainly, mopping chocolate milk off his chin.

Mira headed for the nearest trash can, dumping her untouched food before stalking out of the cafeteria. She set off into the station with no particular destination in mind.

The trip to Tradeworld and back had taken up a good portion of their evening. The station was nearly devoid of action at this point. All around her, the hallway lights were going out for the night.

As she made her way through the steadily darkening passages, her anger slowly subsided, replaced with a slight twinge of guilt. It wasn't really Buzz's fault, after all; he hadn't been in XR's head, hadn't heard XR's thoughts. If she really thought about it, she'd probably be thinking the same thing as him right now if she hadn't felt those terrible things. She supposed she'd have to apologize for that later.

She folded her arms over her chest, shivering slightly. In the dark those terrible visions started coming back to her. The fear and anxiety returned and she found herself wishing she hadn't left her team, in case the LGMs were to show up soon with news.

But she couldn't go back to them, not now. She couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Walking at least gave her a way to occupy herself, gave her some figurative sense of direction. She thought about the LGMs, weighing the chances in her mind. Was it too soon for a status report? Was it… too late?

She focused hard on her path to keep from dwelling on that. For a moment she fought an internal war over whether or not she should just go to the science bay to get information on her own. Put herself out of his mis- out of _her _misery. Finally she decided she'd give it just a little more time; maybe a lap or two around the station and she'd head over there.

She couldn't tell how far she'd actually gone or how much time had actually passed before her feet began heading for the science bay anyway. When she reached it she stood outside and stared up at the door, gnawing on her lip.

Should she go in? She was dying for information, and surely enough time had passed that they had something to report…

But what if that something was bad? Walking in there, she ran the risk of once again seeing more than she'd bargained for. She didn't think she could handle that twice in one day.

Her thoughts argued amongst each other once more before coming to a compromise. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. That way she'd still get her news and she wouldn't have to risk seeing XR in even worse shape.

The door finally slid open and an LGM appeared. "Yeeesss?" it asked, smiling serenely.

She felt herself relax a little. It was clearly in a good mood, that had to be a good sign - or not, she pointed out to herself, remembering the way they'd acted when they'd first seen XR.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "I was just, wondering… how… how he's doing?"

She didn't have to specify who. The LGM nodded. "Robot fiiiine."

Relief flooded through her and she sighed heavily, a weak smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Oh, good," she managed to stammer.

"Would you like to see?" the LGM asked, making a sweeping gesture into the room.

She blinked, surprised. If he was in a displayable condition, that dispelled her fear of walking in on him lying open on an operating table, broken parts strewn about him… Of course, that might not be something the LGMs would be overly concerned about hiding. She shook her head.

"Oh, no, that- that's okay. I just… wanted to know how he was doing, is all. I just… I'll see him tomorrow," she mumbled.

The LGM smiled and nodded, not budging an inch.

"Well… thank you then," she stammered. "Um… goodnight."

"Goodniiiight!" it waved quickly and then turned away, the doors sliding shut behind it.

She stared at the doors, her thoughts inevitably flashing back to the little teammate behind them. Good news aside, she still felt unsettled as she made her way to her quarters.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_Every single day I think about how we came all this way  
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried  
__It's never too late to make it right  
_~Buckcherry, _'Sorry'_

Everyone else was sleeping. She just couldn't.

Mira sat up, sighing.

What she had felt in XR's mind had been nagging in the back of hers ever since they'd returned. It hadn't been pretty.

She tried to push away the memories and couldn't. In his weakened state the perky, chipper, quirky personality she thought of as XR had been gone, leaving only the unpleasant things behind... and oh, mother of Venus those things were haunting.

She slipped out of her bed and made her way down the hallway. She hadn't really given it conscious thought, but she knew where she was going- she was going to see XR.

As she made her way down the hall, the memories of what she'd found in his mind attacked her again. First off, the memories of what had been happening to him underground. The horrible feeling of being left in the dark, alone and everywhere had been the question... _why is this happening to me? _

He'd been wondering if he'd brought it on himself somehow, she remembered with a shudder. Not in a self-pitying way, actually, seriously wondering...

She pushed the thoughts away finally; she was at the science bay. Silently, she ghosted through the wall. Where was he... ah, there, over on that table.

The LGMs had apparently left him there for the night. They must not be finished working on him. But, then, there was a lot of work to do; recharging him, giving him the energy he so desperately needed. Fixing every part of him that had shut down.

Mira sighed. After an ordeal like that there wasn't only physical damage that needed mending, but gee, obviously no one CARED because she didn't see any scheduled appointments with Dr. Animus-

-pfft. Dr. Animus. Even in this situation she almost had to laugh at the notion that THAT quack could help anyone. And, judging by past events, she swore he had it in for XR. He was always trying to prove something was wrong with him. ….Well, something _was_ wrong, but it was nothing like what he was thinking.

Well, she told herself, feeling slightly ashamed and hypocritical, okay, so maybe Dr. Animus couldn't read minds.

She thought it over for a minute.

He was still a jerk.

Having settled that matter, she slipped up to the table in question, where XR lay half-curled on his side, one hand still covering his neck. She stood next to him, for a little while, staring down at his still form, her hands folded before her. He was resting, thank goodness. He was in dire need of rest. At least he was safe. It must be such a relief for him, to feel that he was finally safe.

Her eyes traveled to his neck. His hand had slipped away while she was watching and she flinched. The LGMs still hadn't filled in the punctures left by NOS-4-A2. The bite marks peppered his torso like bullet holes, awful remnants of each night's horror. _We could have found him sooner,_ she thought miserably, _why couldn't we have found him sooner?_ Without thinking, she reached out and ran her fingers across the puncture wounds. They felt as horrible as they looked.

"XR… how did you stand it?" she mumbled absently, obviously not expecting an answer.

"Nnnn…."

Mira jumped. XR was mumbling in his sleep.

"Nnnoo… noo, don't touch me!"

She quickly drew her hand away.

"No, no! Don't! Don't come any closer! Don't hurt me again, please!" he whimpered, kicking and thrashing.

Mira stared at him. Was he really…?

"Please, master, not again-"

He really was.

"XR, shhh!" She placed her hand gently on his shaking arm. "It's me, it's Mira!"

He relaxed.

"Murra?" he murmured in a low slur.

"Yes."

"What're y'doin'… here?"

"You're in the science bay, XR."

"Wh-why is Nnnos-fer-atuu in…?"

She cut him off desperately. "He's not here, XR. Don't think about him. You're safe."

"Then... what're yeh…"

"I just came to check on you," she said ingratiatingly.

"…Check on mmme?" he mumbled.

"I was worried about you."

She could admit that, couldn't she? He was barely conscious and probably wouldn't even remember it later... not that it was a problem or anything, friends could worry about each other...

He grinned. "Mmmm…"

"Get some rest, XR. You need it."

"Oooo-kaaay…"

She had the sudden compulsion to kiss his helmet, for- some weird reason or another- well, he wouldn't remember it, right? His smile broadened. He sighed deeply, then went still again. He was drifting back to sleep.

Mira sighed down at him. He was having nightmares about NOS-4-A2.

So-o-o… he _didn't_ feel safe.

She chewed her lip thoughtfully.

Really… had he ever felt safe in the first place?

---

The next day he wasn't in the science bay. When she asked the LGMs about it, they told her they'd finished looking him over. He was fully recharged; he was fine, and they'd let him go. Confused, she thanked them and left.

She found him in the break room, fighting with the vending machine again.

Why he did that, she'd never know. He couldn't even eat. Maybe he was venting.

She sighed. This was not going to be easy.

"XR, can I talk to you?"

With one last kick, he turned to her, still scowling from the vestiges of his vending-machine rage. "What about?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, wondering how to continue. This was a touchy subject. But she had to talk to him. She couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Well, it's just… well, it's about NOS-4-A2."

Whatever trace of happiness or calm had been on XR's face (none) faded. He stiffened. The very air around him seemed to grow cold.

"What about him?" He tried to sound cool, but the fear leaked through.

"Well… I-I just wanted… I wanted to say, you know, um-" She shrugged, then sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry."

Now he looked confused. "Why?" His eyes widened. "You're not him, are you?" He started to back away, trembling.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not." Talk about paranoia. "Come on, would NOS-4-A2 really apologize?"

He blinked. "I guess not..."

She sighed. "Anyway… What I'm sorry about is what I- well- what he put you through, I… I-" She turned away, fiddling with her hair. "I... never understood how much his attacks affected you."

"Yeah, well, why should you? It's not like he's ever bitten you, and besides -" he paused, frowning. "Waaait… what makes you think you understand now?"

She'd been dreading this. "Well… back in his lair, I… I did a mind-probe on you-"

He gaped at her. "You WHAT?"

Oh, horrors. The lewd thoughts she could have found, the secret wishes, the- private doubts and insecurities-

"I'm sorry! We were worried about you! I just wanted to find out what was wrong!" she insisted frantically, holding her hands up shieldingly.

"So… your hand was... in my HEAD?" he screamed, panicked. His hands automatically reached up to his neck, reacting to the emotion itself, not its cause, and Mira flinched.

"Yes," she admitted, looking away. "And while I was in there, I- well, y'know, I..." She cringed. "I, uh, y'know, pfft-"

He tapped his foot impatiently. Okay. Okay Mira, just spit it out, you only have to say it once.

"Ifeltyourpain."

"Wazzat?"

Okay, you only have to say it twice.

Mira sighed and touched her fingertips to her head. "I mean... I could... get an idea of... what you went through..." Her hand went down and she stared down at him, looking upset. "I- I never knew one person could- I have no idea how you didn't go crazy."

He blinked up at her, looking hurt and angry.

"I... never knew you were in pain," she mumbled, looking down.

"You never asked," he grumbled, hugging himself. She looked upwards, eyes wide. "Huh?"

"I said... up your a-"

"That's NOT what you said," she insisted.

XR looked down, kicking at the floor and whimpering.

"I tried to yell ya- Booster too, you just- y'never listened, I dunno, I gave up-"

"You didn't try very hard."

He suddenly looked angry. "Yeah, like you did," he spat furiously. "You never paid any attention. You knew what happened when he bit me the first time - you all knew! And you just let it happen again! You knew I was scared; you just didn't CARE!"

He was trembling now. Mira stared. She had seen him get worked up before, but never like this. Oh no. What had she started?

She got down to her knees, putting her hands on his shoulders (he was shaking, and weirdly warm) and attempting to calm him down. "XR…"

He wasn't listening. She bit her lip.

"Nobody ever cares about what happens to the robot!" He adopted a high-pitched, overly-peppy voice. "Oh, don't worry, he can be rebuilt, he can be recharged, it doesn't matter, it can all be _fixed!"_

Mira's stomach churned with guilt. She had been one of those people. She had never worried about XR. No matter how bad a shape he was in, he could always be put back together again. She'd thought such a thing would make someone feel invincible, invulnerable. Special! She'd never considered it might make them feel…

…_expendable…_ oh, sweet mother of Venus.

"It can't all be fixed, can it?" Mira mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. She felt oddly… chastised. Like she was in school. It bugged her.

XR's brow furrowed. "No," he muttered darkly, his shoulders slumping.

Mira found her mind suddenly not only _not _giving her anything to say, but seemingly unwilling to even TRY to think of anything for her to say. Graaah.

When a few minutes passed and she still hadn't said anything, he let out an annoyed huff.

"So why don't you just leave me alone?" he snapped, turning away.

She hesitated. Should she just drop it? Hadn't he been through enough already? She was probably just making it worse. She straightened up and turned to leave… Wait. Wait, no-

There was something else that was bothering her.

"You… you asked him to kill you?"

XR stared at her. "How - how did you… know?"

"NOS-4-A2 mentioned it. Right before he tried to attack you."

He seemed to relax, but his face went very cold. "Oh. So this isn't something you fished out of my head? A little _bird_ didn't tell you?"

She gave him an indignant look. "No, it's not. And could you please let that go?"

"Fine," XR shrugged lightly. "No matter how weird it is," he muttered, in just the right tone to make it SOUND like she wasn't supposed to hear, but loud enough to make sure she DID.

She glared at him. "That's _it!" _She pointed emphatically. "Stop acting like I violated you! You're not the only one I've ever done that to, you know. And what was I _supposed_ to do, huh? You were acting so weird, I was worried about you!"

Her eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth. Craters. She'd done it again.

"You were… what now?" he asked, and she couldn't really tell whether he was being sarcastic or genuinely confused.

She pulled back, shrugging and clasping her hands behind her back with wide, rolling eyes. "Well, pfft, I dunno, you're-"

She hemmed and hawed for a few seconds until he cleared his throat with a loud, metallic clack.

"I was... y'know, worried about, you, I mean..." She shrugged again, trailing off and looking at the floor. "I mean, we're friends, of course I was... we're friends."

For the first time in a long time, his mouth twitched into a half-smile. "Really?"

"Can we just drop it?" she asked, tone flat with irritation (why did this bother her so much? she wondered). "You never answered me. Why did you ask him to kill you?"

XR stopped smiling. He stared down at his feet, kicking the ground absently.

After a minute, she realized he wasn't answering and gently prodded- "We-e-ell?"

"I don't remember."

His face scrunched up like he was going to cry. "I- I just remember- oh, man, I don't wanna talk about it-"

"Oh- okay, never mind- I'm s-sorry," she said.

XR turned away, rubbing his neck. "I probably- I don't know. It's none of your business. But- oh, man."

He looked at the floor. Mira bit her lip.

"It was really that bad, huh?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, it was," he mumbled absently. "Not that, you know, it... matters... I'll be back at work tomorrow..."

Wait, WHAT?

"You'll WHAT?"

He looked up at her, surprised. "Be back at work?

She knelt back down to his level and tucked her hair behind her ear, blinking. "But- you're not... ready for duty yet..."

He looked a little... upset. But only a little. There was no anger, which was a good sign.

She reached up and caressed- uh, touched his shoulder.

"Maybe you should take a week off, huh? You look like you need it."

He blinked. He did look pretty off. Tired and just kinda sad.

"Mohambas 6?" she suggested. He used to love the beach. STILL loved the beach, dangit, he was the same person- well- sort of- "You still like the beach, right?"

His expression did not change. He said nothing. Aaaargh. Awkwarrrd.

She was about to try something else when he said-

"You'd go with me?"

He sounded shocked, disbelieving.

She blinked.

"Oh, um, you thought- you thought I-"

He blinked again, looking hurt. Oh no, no no, this was going south fast-

That harrowing phrase he kept repeating echoed through her head, _don't hurt me again, Master, please, don't let him hurt me again-_ She shook her head.

"Umm, you know what? Yeah." She made her face relax, and nodded in a hopefully sincere way. "I could- I could use a vacation too. Yeah. We'll go together."

He perked up.

Inwardly, Mira groaned. What was she dooiiing.

On the other hand, she did want to be close to XR for a little while, get him back on his feet... And, now that she thought about it, it probably wasn't wise to leave him alone now. He was still recovering, he was still have nightmares about that awful creature - Heaven only knew what he'd do to himself if he was left alone in his stressed state.

He started babbling happily about a timeshare he supposedly owned. Mira just smiled and nodded, inwardly writhing.

Going away with XR. How had she gotten into this? She hadn't meant to get sucked into a trip with him, she'd just meant for him to take a break, relax, have a little alone time…

_Alone…_ Duh. She mentally cursed herself. What had she been _thinking?_ Of course XR wouldn't want to be alone right now. He'd been alone for days in a _hole_, alone and afraid, cold and hurt, with no one but that monster for company… well, and the dead robots everywhere, of course. Oh yeah, they must have been _great _company.

She shivered. Why did it scare her so much? She wasn't the one who'd had to live through it…

How was anything going to feel right with him again…

"Mira?"

She jumped, snapped out of her reverie. "Huh?"

"Is… something wrong?"

She stared at him. _Everything._

"No! No, of course not!" She forced herself to smile. "I was just… thinking."

He grinned brightly. "What about?"

"About… well, about this trip, how I'm gonna convince Buzz to let us take it."

The grin faded, replaced by a look of disappointment. "Oh. Oh yeah. Enh." He scuffed at the floor with one tread, suddenly looking guilty.

She held up her hand. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. I'll work it all out."

"So it's settled?" he asked cheerfully.

She nodded, forcing herself to keep smiling. "It's settled."

"Great! I'll get ready!"

He wheeled out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. _Just her and XR…_ Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After all, they'd been on missions before, just the two of them, it wouldn't be any different than that, right? What could possibly happen?

And she was going to Mohambas 6.

She smiled a little.

Sweet.

---

"Buzz? I need to talk to you."

"What is it, Mira?"

All business. He was always all business. But this was personal.

"It's… well, it's XR."

"Ah, yes," Buzz said brightly. "He seems to be coming along fine."

Mira gave him a wilted look. Oh, Buzz of little brain. So valiant and brave, yet so socially inept.

"No, he's not," she said firmly. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

He gave her a weird look. "What? What's wrong, does he really have mental fatigue this time?"

Mira sighed. Downright Cro-Magnon. "No, Buzz. It's just... you know. He's been through a lot. He needs more time to recover. I think… I think I should take him on some R-and-R. Give him a chance to rest before he comes back to duty."

Buzz looked skeptical. "What makes you think that?"

Mira hesitated. "He's been through a lot," she repeated. "NOS-4-A2 almost drained all of his energy. He's never been attacked so severely before. And besides, he was never really given the chance to recover from the other attacks. I mean, we never even got him a new AFD..."

"He's recharged now," Buzz pointed out. "And he's been through it before."

The anger from the previous night returned full-force and she glared at him. _"Will you stop saying that?!"_ she hissed. Buzz's eyes widened. "How is that supposed to make things _better?"_

"I… well, I just…" Buzz stammered.

"You don't think it got worse for him as it went on? Buzz, he was taken prisoner by the energy_ vampire. _NOS-4-A2 was draining his life away. You think that wasn't painful? That it wasn't traumatic for him? He was cold and alone and hurt and scared for _days._ You think that kind of experience is something he should just get _used to?!"_

"Mira, calm down!" Buzz held up his hands, staring at her in shock. She realized with some surprise that one of her fists was raised as though in preparation to bash his head in. Oops. "I'm just trying to understand why you're suddenly so adamant about giving him a 'chance to recover.' You've never been so concerned about it before. What's different now?"

Mira blinked and the anger seemed to ebb away, leaving an almost haunted look in her eyes. She turned away, crossing her arms. "I just… I'm just looking out for him, that's all. I've just… realized that, you know, _maybe _he's not as indestructible as we thought."

Buzz raised an eyebrow at her, frowning. "And what _happened_ to make you realize that?"

She was silent for a long time, unyielding. Something in her eyes made him think she was fighting desperately to hold something back.

"Mira," he said softly, as gently as he possibly could. "You can tell me."

Mira bit her lip. How could she explain what she'd felt? How could she just give away XR's most personal thoughts? She couldn't do that to him, not after how upset he'd gotten with her… she owed it to him, she promised she wouldn't let him get hurt anymore…

But she had to tell Buzz _something. _And she supposed she also owed it to him to be honest. He deserved to know what was going on, after all. He had a right to know why she'd been acting strangely, too; if she kept this up without giving him a reason he'd start to think there was something wrong with _her. _She just wouldn't tell him everything, that was all. She'd just tell him what he needed to understand the severity of the situation.

"Buzz, back in NOS-4-A2's lair…" she faltered. He nodded encouragingly. "I did a mind-probe on XR. Buzz, you wouldn't believe… all the pain he was feeling… that was _all _he was feeling. He was hurt and terrified and miserable and… It was awful." She looked up at him, her eyes wide and wounded-looking. "You can't even imagine… of all the thoughts I've read, I've never, ever felt anything so horrible. It was so bad, he… he thought he was being punished."

Buzz gaped at her. "Why would he think that?"

Her eyes widened and she looked away, rubbing her arm. "Well… because… he just- you know, it- it's not important. What matters is…"

"Does this have anything to do with that fight you two were hav-"

"_It's not important,"_ she snapped. He started to speak again – but she gave him such a cold glare he stopped. "Really, it… it doesn't matter now. The point is he's just endured something terrible. And it's been that way before, and… and none of us noticed. He needs to know it wasn't his fault, that it wasn't something he deserved. He's still hurting, Buzz. He's not ready to go back out there yet. He needs a chance to recover. _Really_ recover."

Buzz stared at her. She looked determined as ever, but underneath her resolve was a sense of urgency; a quiet desperation to be understood, for him to see that this was all true. Mira wouldn't make this up.

"This is serious," he said softly.

Mira nodded, folding her hands neatly behind her back. "It is."

Buzz sighed. If his teammates needed something, desperately needed something, he'd see that they got it. He didn't want any of them to be suffering. Maybe… maybe he had been a little insensitive about XR's troubles in the past. And if Mira said he needed to recover, then he needed to recover. He could see to that much.

"Alright, Mira. I'll let the Commander know."

She looked immensely relieved. "Thanks, Buzz."

She turned to leave. Well, that wasn't so hard.

Buzz watched her go. He wasn't quite convinced XR really _needed _a vacation, but he could tell Mira thought so. He wanted Mira to be happy. And he wanted XR to be happy, too. Maybe the little guy really _was _hurting. He did act kinda weird. Maybe he did need some help.

"Mira, hold up!"

Mira turned at the door with a questioning look.

He smiled at her. "Take all the time he needs."

Mira blinked. A smile spread slowly across her face. "We will. Thank you."

He nodded, watching the door slide shut behind her. He turned around, feeling strangely like he'd just done something really good. Well, all in a day's work for Buzz Lightyear.

Mira headed down the hallway, hugging herself. It was official. She was going away with XR. It shouldn't make her feel this nervous, it really shouldn't. What did she think was going to happen? It wasn't like she was going away with a stranger…

She sighed. She may as well have been, after everything that had happened. She almost felt like she didn't know him anymore. Like she had to get to know him all over again…

She paused suddenly as that thought sunk in. Who was she taking this trip for, anyway?

* * *

**AN:** So that's it! For Part I, anyway.

I can't believe it's all up. Seems like we just started uploading it… It's been so much fun; thank you to everyone who's left us reviews. We hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed working on it! Until Part II! ^^

~BG

A/N: IT'S OVERRRR

Wow, that was a fun ride! Hope you like this last chapter, and yeah, keep an eye out for Part II!


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